


The Three of Them

by fyrefairee



Series: The Dreamer [1]
Category: Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-12 03:15:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 53,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10480857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyrefairee/pseuds/fyrefairee
Summary: Who says you are only allowed a single love? That you should only have one person to obsess about.For her, for V, V’ronica it was her best friend and her best friend’s boy friend.For him, for Logan, it was his girlfriend and her best friend.For the third, for Lilly, it was her boyfriend and best friend.Or looking at it another way.For Veronica, it was her ex-boyfriend’s best friend and her ex boyfriend’s sister.For Logan it was his best friend’s ex girlfriend his best friend’s sisterFor Lilly, it was her brother’s ex girlfriend and her brother’s best friend.





	1. Prologue

From the age of roughly six months, when the novelty of the new baby wore off, each childin the most prestigious of zip codes, the 90909 was passed into the hands of the hired help. Women from the lower zip codes - 90902 and 90903 - took the babies shoved into their arms, working long hours away from their own families and children to raise the children of the rich and famous. The children of the 90902 and 90903 were raised by grandparents, uncles, aunts, older siblings. Whoever was there, and free, and could lend a loving set of hands. The children in the middle, they were raised by their own parents.

 

The three from the 90909 of them spent their childhoods with maids and nannies, shuttled between school and soccer, cheerleading, language classes and music lessons. Their parents were absent, jetting across the country or abroad, attending their charity events, board meetings, film openings. They were part of the forgotten, ignored children, abandoned to grow up without their parents. Pulled out for the obligatory family Christmas card photo, carefully posed to show the perfect all-American family. They grew up with out expectations, without discipline. Their parents were rarely home to find out if homework was completed, or if they went to bed on time. They lived by their money, and the notion that whatever they did, they could pay their way out. By twelve, all three had tried the contents of the liqueur cabinets in both houses. Logan practically grew up at the Kane house. His father’s temper was unpredictable, as was his presence at the Echolls mansion. Logan learned all the ways to leave the house without his father seeing, a note left somewhere for Letitia Navarro to find. Letitia, the family’s housekeeper, was also the keeper of the secrets. Of Logan’s location, his safety, and the knowledge of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. She denied all knowledge of Logan’s whereabouts, despite knowing how often he slipped up a tree at the back of the vast yard, into the Kane property and the relative safety of their household. 

 

When Duncan was 13, and Lilly and Logan were 12, this changed. There was a new sheriff in town, and with him a new daughter. All three were intrigued. She was a blonde waif who ignored the class codes that Neptune was built upon. On her first day, she sat at their table. Lilly adopted her, insisting that she become part of their group. Lilly insisted that they needed another girl to round things out, and with a bat of her eyelids at the boys she had wound around her little finger, they rapidly agreed. So Veronica trailed after them, joining the girls soccer team, the junior pep squad, going to the high school football games and the Kane’s house after school. But as much as she gained from her new friendships, and her status with the 09’er crowd, the terrible trio gained not only a fourth member, but also loving, stable, present role models. 

 

Intrigued by tales of how small her house was in comparison to theirs, the three had gone home with her one afternoon. While they were shocked by the house she lived in - large by most standards, tiny by 09 norms - they found themselves returning week after week. Her house provided them with something they had never experienced before. A home. Her mother, on the good days, would fill the kitchen with cookies, love and laughter. On the bad days, when her MS was worse, she would sit quietly in the living room with them, watching TV, or just listening to them going through the motions of junior high - homework, gossip, pre-teen dramas. Her father would come home at dinner time, and more often than not the four teens plus Keith and Lianne would be sitting down for a family meal. What started as a weekly visit soon transformed into a nightly occurrence. Keith would drop the kids home each night, and the housekeepers learnt to look out for the sheriff’s car carrying tired teens before they went home for the night. 

 

As the year progressed, Veronica’s mother’s condition got steadily worse, and the four of them found the roles slowly reversing. They would spend afternoons helping Veronica bake cookies to cheer up Lianne, or watching as Veronica made meals for the evening dinner. Their grades improved as they spent more and more time at the Mars’ house, caring for Veronica and being cared for by her parents. 

 

The summer before their Freshman year at high school, Veronica’s mother passed away, and they all attended the funeral, standing in the front row with Veronica and her father, standing as family. The night Lianne passed away was the first they were all allowed to stay over, to sleep all together in the same room, comforting and being comforted. The summer was spent quietly grieving. There was time by the pool at the Kane’s mansion, but more often than not, come 4pm they were back in the Mars’ kitchen, Veronica preparing dinner while they watched, chatting about the random stuff on every teenager’s minds. They were all touched by the loss of Lianne, but young enough that they were unscarred by her passing. 

 

As they progressed through high school, it seemed only natural that they would pair up. Logan and Lilly were first, always pushing boundaries. For Lilly, it was a way to get a reaction from her mother. For Logan, it was a chance for the intimacy he was craving in his life. By their Sophomore year, Veronica was dating Duncan, Lilly was dating Logan and the four of them spent all their time together. 


	2. High School - Sophomore Year Part One

They started high school as 09ers, as the Fab Four, as the future kings and queens of the school. Duncan and Lilly, the Irish twins, had always been in the same year at school, despite being 11 months apart in age. Duncan tried to play the big brother card, Lilly never let him. As Freshman, they hadn’t paired off yet, were still just friends. As the year went on, they began to notice the others developing, the onset of puberty. Hormones kicked in. By the winter break, Lilly and Logan were together, and by spring break, so were Duncan and Veronica. Logan can’t help but notice how Veronica looks and smells, but he’s with Lilly, and besides, there isn’t any other pairing that would be possible. Their afternoons were filled with pep squad for the girls, soccer practices for the boys, dinner at the Mars’ house, and an increasing number of sleep overs. Keith knows they have paired up, but prefers them under his roof than out on the town doing god only knows what. Keith is aware of the lack of supervision at the Kane and Echoll’s household, and would rather have Veronica safely under his roof. He misses Lianne, and their bustling teenage noise around the house comforts him. They respected his wishes, and engaged in their awkward teen fumbling before he got home. They experimented, Lilly and Veronica kissing, Logan and Duncan trying it too, they giggled and messed around. All four love Keith. Their real parents have never once complained about the time they spend at the sheriff’s house. They have found a home, a family. 

 

All four feel lucky to have found the others. They feel safe and secure in their world. They have been touched by sadness, by the tragedy of Lianne’s passing, and it has made them invincible. Nothing else can happen, they are invulnerable. As they approach winter break in their sophomore year, they are unbeatable. They rule the school. They are the kings and queens of the sophomore year, walking the halls with impunity and grace. The power couples. People get out of their way as they walk four abreast. They use their pirate points every lunch, sitting high on the tables surrounded by other 09ers, by juniors and seniors - their social equals. They stay away from people from the other zip codes. Those from the ’02 and ’03. (They ignore the fact that Veronica is from the ’04. She’s one of them). Lesser beings. They are arrogant and uncaring. Untouched by the minor aggressions of high school. They are the children of the most powerful people in Neptune. Untouchable.

 

Life doesn’t care about who your family is, who your parents are or what tragedies you have already experienced. On October 3rd, life didn’t care about the vast wealth the two families had collected. It didn’t care that Lilly, Logan, Veronica and Duncan had grieved for Lianne. It simply existed as it always had. As the random force that couldn’t be stopped or argued with. The Echolls and Kanes lived in a gated community, with large blocks.Eight properties in total, each on large blocks so that you couldn’t really see one house from any of the others. Theirs were the two largest, set far back from the road, but relatively close to each other. They are the farthest from the guard gates, and the most isolated from view. Their private beach frontage puts them on the blind slide of a hill, away from the prying eyes of Aaron’s adoring fans and Jake’s rival. The beach is accessible only from the houses that front it. These factors, these things that made the houses ideal to buy, also became their downfall. For once, every member of the Echolls and Kane families are home. The house staff have been sent away, back to their own homes and families. A freak storm, a lightning strike and an out of control fire quickly spread from the Echoll’s mansion to the Kane mansion. 

 

Only two people survived.

 

Lilly and Logan, who’d snuck out of the house for a late night tryst, got caught on the beach, seeking shelter in a small cave to weather the storm. Mobile phone towers are knocked out by the storm, so no one is able to contact them until they stumble back up the beach with the early dawn light the next morning. The fierce rain has dulled the smell of burning wood, but both sniff the air uncertainly. The normal smell of clean and fresh that comes after a costal storm is laced with something… darker, more sinister. 

 

Reaching the peak of the sand dune, they are greeted by the sight of the charred ruins of their houses, by the lights of the fire engines and police cars filling their driveway. Driveways they shouldn’t be able to see, because the house should be blocking them. 

 

Without speaking, they start to run, frantic to get there, to see Duncan waiting for them, waiting by a police car. Neither hear the shouts as the emergency services personnel see them. There is nothing but the search for their friend, their brother. 

 

They are caught by Keith, his strong arms pulling them into a hug and the tears on his face telling them everything they need to know.

 

They don’t hear him radio for an ambulance. They don’t remember getting wrapped in space blankets, having people ask if they need water. They cling to each other, lost in the shock and their own grief. They don’t remember Keith talking to the ambulance staff, don’t remember getting into his car, driving to the Mars house. Don’t remember Veronica clinging to them, tears streaming down her face. Don’t remember the whispered conversations as they are led into Veronica’s room, put to bed together. Don’t remember clinging together, a ball of limbs and grief and weight. Don’t remember crying themselves dry, falling asleep from pure exhaustion.

 

Logan is the first to wake up, blinking in the harsh sunlight. His half-asleep brain is pleased, happy to feel the arms of two people - two small people - around him. To wake up in one of his fantasy positions, with V on one side, and Lil on the other. He wraps his arms around them tighter, pulling them closer to his body. His mouth is dry, as if he has no water left in his body and his eyes are raw and he can’t quite remember why. Blinking to look at the girls, he sees Keith sitting in the corner, watching him carefully. Keith is watching him with - concern? Grief? Not the emotions he expected to see on his de facto father’s face. He’s broken the rules by sleeping in the same bed as the girls. As he ponders these facts, his brain starts to fill in the blanks, to wake up. 

 

“No!” he tries to yell, but it comes out as a hoarse whisper. His voice is raw and tender. He wants it to be untrue. For his mind to be playing an incredibly cruel trick on him.

 

Instead, Keith simply nods. “There was a house fire. Two house fires. Both your house, and the Kane’s were burnt to the ground. There were no survivors. Three bodies have been recovered from your house, believed to be Aaron Echolls, Lynne Echolls and Trina Echolls. Three bodies were also recovered from the Kane property, believed to be Jake Kane, Celeste Kane and Duncan Kane. All members of staff have been accounted for. The fire looks like an accident, ignited by the lightning storm two nights ago and spreading between the houses. A full investigation is underway.”

 

Keith paused, shook his head. “I’ve always hated delivering this sort of news, Logan. It’s been especially hard this time round. You kids have been asleep for almost twenty four hours. I’m so sorry for your loss. Duncan was a good kid. He was…” Keith trailed off, rubbed his eyes. Logan saw the tears he wiped away. 

 

“I’ll tell them, again, when they wake up,” he promised Keith. “I’m sorry to have broken your rules.”

 

“Logan, I put the three of you here. Please. Just…” again at a loss for words, Keith breaks eye contact. “There are three glasses of water on the night stand. You know where everything else is. I’ll be in the kitchen.” He gets up, walks across the room. At the doorway, he pauses. “Oh, and Logan, this is probably too much for you guys to deal with yet, but I’ve been granted temporary guardianship of you and Lilly. We’ll talk about it later.” Leaving the room, Keith barely makes it three steps before bursting into tears. First Lianne, now Veronica has to deal with the loss of Duncan. 

 

At the sound of the closing door, Veronica started to stir in Logan’s arms. He instinctively pulled her closer into him, although how he managed it he didn’t know. There was no ‘closer’ to be had, and yet he somehow achieved it. She buried her face into his chest, and he gently kissed the top of her head. Inhaling, Veronica started and looked up. The chest she was snuggled up to was familiar, but no the one she should be clutching. Looking up, she saw Logan’s face, and the grief in his eyes and remembered. As tears began to fill her eyes, she lowered her head, burrowing into the soft fabric of the t-shirt Logan was wearing. 

 

Taking a deep breath, she raised her head.

 

“It’s...?” she trailed off, not wanting to start the sentence for the fear of it being finished. 

 

Peeking from underneath her eyelashes, she saw Logan nod.

 

“All…?”

 

Again, a nod.

 

“It’s just the three of us now. Lilly and I… we… we’re…” Logan was the one to trail off this time. The word was too big, too real for him to say just yet.

 

“Orphans.” The word was muffled, cloaked in the raspy voice of someone who has cried themselves to sleep. “We’re orphans, Logan.”

 

“Yes.” What else could he say?

 

“Keith... Sheriff Mars… he said that they think they found Lynne, Aaron and Trina’s bodies in my house… and Jake, Celeste and Duncan’s in your house, Lil.” It doesn’t feel like he is speaking, it feels foreign, the words heavy in his mouth. His made of lead, he is floating about his body. He is disconnected, and cannot focus on anything but the two bodies holding him, anchoring him to this reality. 

 

No one says anything after that, they just lie there, trapped in their own heads. Clinging to each other like the other two are their life preserver. Scared they will drown in their own grief if they let go. 

 

Slowly, the smell of cooking permeates the room. Bacon and pancakes and maple syrup. Macaroni cheese. The only foods Keith Mars knows how to cook consistently well, comfort foods. But some unspoken consensus, they got out of Veronica’s bed and wandered blearily into the kitchen. Hearing the bedroom door open, Keith quickly put together three plates, and placed them in front of each of his children as they sat down. _His children._ Well, not biologically, he considered, but they’d been his for years now. And one was missing. Feeling tears building in his eyes, he turned to grab cutlery, noting as he turned back that they had moved their chairs close enough that they were all touching. He wondered if they even realised they had done it. He hadn’t seen Lilly or Logan let go of each other since they appeared at the burnt wreckage of the Kane property, or Veronica let go since he bought the other two home.

 

_Home._ Well, they spent more time here than at their own houses. He suspected that Logan had been suffering abuse at the hand of his father since meeting the boy, but had never had any hard evidence. Keith hated every time he dropped Logan back at the front door of the Echolls mansion, Letitia stepping out of the door to greet them. Hated he was returning the boy to the suspected abuse. Hated the vacant look that entered Logan’s eyes as they pulled into the driveway. As bad as Aaron was, so were the rest of the parents. Lynne, Jake and Celeste were just… absent. The passive neglect through disinterest almost as detrimental to the kids as active abuse could be. Keith was thankful that these three had found his Veronica. While their 09er class mates were already getting pulled into his office for public drinking, disrupting the peace, his kids were yet to cross the threshold of the station. The kids may have slept in other houses, but this was their home. _And I will keep them here._

 

*****

 

Time passes. The investigation concludes that the fires were an accident. That the fire was started by lightning, spreading from the Echolls property to the Kane property. Bodies are identified, and funerals are held for the six people who died in the fire. The rubble is cleared. Nothing can be salvaged. Lilly and Logan leave the properties empty, unable to make any sort of decision about what to do with them. Wills are read, lawyers are contacted. Courts visited and custody granted. Keith becomes the legal guardian of the two orphaned teens. He pulls the three of them out of school for the final month of the winter term of their sophomore year. Giving them time to grieve without their peers, without the added stress of high school. He turns a blind eye as the three continue to share a room, sleeping wrapped up in each other every night. In the first few weeks, he would leave the door open, walking into the room at odd times. Every time, they were fully clothed. Sleeping, clinging to each other. His three bedroom house is no longer large enough, so they move - still not into the 09er zip - to a five bedroom house. Nominally, Logan, Lilly and Veronica were given their own rooms, their own spaces. Realistically, they are just place keepers. They sleep in Veronica’s room every night. Always Logan in the middle, holding the girls to protect them, to shield himself. Keith becomes the executor of both Lilly and Logan’s inheritances. Neither are overly interested in the fortunes that they now control. They buy cars for themselves, one for Veronica. Not the flashy, gaudy things lost in the fire. Not the yellow X-Terra or cherry red convertible that Logan and Lilly used to drive. Expensive vehicles none the less. All three ended up with a top of the line Mercedes-Benz. All three cars were black. Logan a SUV, the girls coupes. 

 

A week before Christmas, Logan suddenly feels… alive… again. He can still feel the grief for Duncan sitting heavily in his heart. He never really felt the need to mourn his parents or sister. They were the strangers, the abusers that shared a house with him. Duncan was his brother. But he wakes up a clear, crisp December morning, wanting to surf. Wanting to leave the cocoon of the house he has been in for weeks. Wondering what happened to the Navarro family. Lettie was more family to him than his parents ever were. Carefully extracting himself from the two sleeping girls, he smiles as they pull each other closer in their sleep. Returning to his room (really, a glorified closet with a bed) he dresses for the beach. Switching on his cell phone for the first time in weeks, he ignores the messages that start to fill his inbox. Instead, he rings the one person who will be up for a surf this early. Dick Casablancas. Answering after two rings, the easy joy in Dick’s voice convinces Logan he’s done the right thing. His board was destroyed in the fire, but Dick has a spare, plus spare gear. Twenty minutes later, he is pulling up in front of the Dog Beach. Not the best surf in Neptune, but the least filled with memories. 

 

Dick bounds over, hugs his friend. “Dude. Missed you.”

 

Logan simply nods in acknowledgement. Later he will talk, now he just wants to get out into the surf, onto the water. Dick doesn’t push. It isn’t in his personality. He’s just happy his friend has returned. Happy his surfing buddy is back. Dick, far from dumb, is happy to live simply - feeling intensely, but allowing those feelings to pass quickly. The hurt at missing his friend has gone, and now he is happy. There are waves, water and a beautiful Neptune morning.

 

Logan feels sluggish and uncoordinated the first time he tries to stand on his board. The second time is better, and after that he realises it really is like riding a bike. As he grows tired, he paddles out past the breakers. Straddling his board, he just sits, bobbing in the water. Dick joins him, and the sit in silence. Staring back at the Neptune shoreline, Logan thinks he is going to be okay. He’ll probably always have a Duncan-shaped hole in his heart, feel the pain of the unexpected and untimely passing, the guilt that he and Lilly survived, but otherwise he will survive.

 

“You good, bro?” Dick asks, breaking the silence.

 

“No, but I will be,” Logan answers. It’s the longest sentence he’s said to anyone who wasn’t Lilly, Veronica or Keith since the fire. And saying it lifts a weight. He knows that he isn’t okay, that he hurts but he can see… not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the glow of light around the bend. The faint lightening of pitch blackness to a dull grey.

 

They paddle back to shore. Logan smiles at Dick as they load the boards into Dick’s truck. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but Dick can see that his friend is doing better than at the funerals. 

 

“Same time tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Driving away from the beach, Logan drives down into the other area of town, away from the homes of the elite, to the homes of the people who work for them. The 02 zip code, home to the poorest of Neptune. And home to his housekeeper, Lettie Navarro. Surfing with Dick was easy. This part is hard. He’s only been there once, doesn't have her number, and her grandson Weevil has never been his biggest fan. 

 

After four false tries, Logan pulls up in front of a small house. It’s clear that the owners don’t have much money but that they have great pride in their house. The yard is tidy, well maintained. The garden beds have cheerful flowers - poinsettias blooming cheerfully in the California winter air. Logan slowly remembers that Lettie was the main bread winner for her family - her children are mostly absent, leaving her with five or six grand children to look after. He wonders what they have been doing in the months since the fire. 

 

Walking to the front door, he raises his hand to knock, but the door is opened before his fist can connect. Thrown off balance by the momentum in his arm, he stumbles and finds himself pulled into Lettie’s arms. She hugs him tightly for seconds, minutes, hours. Logan can’t tell. Slowly, she lets go. Stepping back, she looks at him carefully, appraising the boy she spent so much time away from her own family looking after. A boy she tried to provide a family for. She notices the bags under his eyes, the gaunt tightness in his face and the loss of weight. Small amounts, things that most other people would barely notice. Things that show her the toll Duncan’s death took on him. She doubts that he grieved for Aaron, Celeste or Trina. 

 

Pulling him inside the house, she sits him on a worn out couch, and bustles into the kitchen. She returns bearing a bowl of chili, and a glass of water. Logan accepts both, glad to have a reprieve from the conversation he’s about to have. He eats mechanically to start with, then really starts to taste the food. He becomes intensely aware that this is the first meal that he has truly _tasted_ since the fire. The first thing he has eaten because he wants to, not because Keith has told him to. Lettie smiles, glad to see him enjoying her cooking again. 

 

Finishing the chili, Logan Looks at Lettie. “How are you doing, Lettie?” he asks.

 

“Oh, fine, fine,” she replies too quickly. He can hear the slight note of pride in her voice, and suspects that she isn’t so fine.

 

“Are you working at the moment?”

 

“Odd jobs, here and there.”

Sighing, Logan realises how hard his family’s deaths must have hit her. “Will you…. I have… Do you…” He stumbles over his words. He’s never had to hire anyone before. Looking at his feet, he counts the prickles stuck to his shoe laces. Calms himself in the simple repetition of the numbers. Raises his head to look directly at Lettie.

 

“You kept me alive when I was a child. You were the only family I had other than Lilly and Duncan. I’m sorry about the fire, and that I didn’t think of you. That you must be having a hard time…” shaking his head, he focuses on his main point. “Lettie. Will you come and work for me? Cooking and light cleaning? At Keith Mars’ place? Please?”

 

Logan turns his head away. Emotions, truth have never been his strong point. He hides his feelings underneath layers of snark. 

 

Standing in the hallway, just out of sight but well within earshot, Weevil smiles grimly. Logan coming here, offering his grandmother a job is a start. Logan has never been his favourite person in Neptune. Arrogant, self assured, the school’s resident jackass. Logan had always been an 09er, talking only to the other 09ers. He had even resented Logan for many years. The way his grandmother would stay late at the Echolls place, even though she had her own family at home. She didn’t get paid for the extra time. Hell, he doubted Aaron or Lynne were even aware she was there. His resentment lessened when he was about twelve. He’d been dumped at his grandmother’s house but his mother, and Lettie didn’t get home until well after midnight that night. He had exploded, yelling at his grandmother how they didn’t appreciate her, how they were just stupid stuck up white people. Lettie had sighed, sat down and started talking. Telling him about the broken boy that she cared for, about the beatings he had been taking since he was six. How she would stay and wash his wounds, about the ridges of scarring that had already formed across his back. That was the first time night that Weevil spent in the police station. Turning his anger to the source, he had keyed Aaron Echoll’s car, getting caught in the act. It was the first time he met the new sheriff, Keith Mars, the first time he saw Veronica. She gave him a juice box, and Weevil thought it had been worth of it, just for that. Weevil’s opinion of Logan was tempered by his knowledge of the abuse he’d suffered. They were never going to be friends, but he was willing to turn a blind eye to Logan’s acts of stupidity. They were in the same year at school, and if he watched carefully, Weevil could see the days Logan was hiding the cuts on his back. Which often aligned with the more reckless, self indulgent things that Logan did.

 

Despite all this, the last few months had been tough on the Navarro household. Thankfully, Christmas break meant he had been able to pick up extra shifts at his uncle’s auto shop. The extra money meant they were able to pay their rent and stay in the house that bit longer. But it didn’t mean that it had been easy. The paycheck his grandmother got from the Echolls was enough to cover rent, food, bills, but never anything else. They were always living paycheck to paycheck. They never had any money to save, for school excursions for his cousins, for birthday presents or for a rainy day. If Logan was offering Lettie a job, Weevil wanted to make sure that his grandmother would be able to save some money to help her retire, to help her live better than she had, to live like she deserved.

 

“She’ll come and work for you if you give her a raise,” Weevil stated, walking around the corner. Weevil had expected Logan to argue about this, but instead he just nodded.

 

“Okay. Name your price. What else do you want?”

 

Weevil sat down with his grandmother, unsure how to proceed. He hadn’t expected Logan to agree so easily. 

 

Seeing the looks of confusion and hesitation on the faces of the Navarro’s faces, Logan almost laughed. Looking directly at Weevil, he did the best he could to explain without giving away his secrets. “She kept me alive, man. She’s family. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know what you guys need. I don’t know what you’ll accept. But I feel like I am in your debt.” He felt tears spring into his eyes, and wiped them angrily away. Weevil wasn’t his enemy, not exactly. But they weren’t friends either. 

 

“I know, man,” Weevil responded. He could see the tears in Logan’s eyes, and knew why they were there. He rubbed the back of his head unconsciously, something he did while he was thinking. “I keyed your dad’s car when I found out what he was doing. I didn’t know what else to do.”

 

“That was _you_?!” Logan asked in amazement. He’d almost gotten blamed for that one, except some Latino kid had been caught in the act. Then, quieter “you knew?”

 

“I told him, Logan,” Lettie said. “He wanted to know why I was always so late coming home from my days at your house. Why I was staying so much longer than I was being paid for.”

 

“Oh.” Mollified, Logan let it slide. It was immaterial now. His father was dead, he was an orphan under the care of the sheriff. The abuse had stopped. 

 

“I mean it though. Please come and work for us. Keith is swamped at work, and Veronica and Lilly are still almost catatonic. I don’t know how Keith has managed the last few months. We were like these automatons. I can barely remember last week. I don’t remember moving. I know Veronica wants to get into a good school, and to do it entirely herself. She can’t be focusing on cleaning, cooking if she wants that to happen. I miss you. I feel so guilty that you were left in the lurch…” This time Logan does burst into tears. “Please?” his voice is pleading, and Lettie hears the echo of the five year old who just wanted his dad home for Christmas. The child who wanted his parents to love him, to feel loved. The echo swayed her, and she nodded.

 

“Yes, I will come work for you. But I’m not getting any younger, Logan. I can’t stay late like I used to.”

 

“You won’t have to, Lettie. Never again.”

 

Weevil knew where the sheriff’s new house was - all the PCHers did, and gave the streets surrounding it a wide berth. Better not to have the sheriff on their back. Keith Mars was competent, and wouldn't hesitate to put any of them behind bars. He couldn’t be intimidated, or bought off. He’d also been instrumental in getting rid of the Fitzpatricks and their drugs from Neptune. Something Weevil was very pleased about. “Keith’s house is a bit far from the bus,” he said. 

 

Logan, understanding the implication, merely nodded. “A car will be part of the package. Insurance, gas card, the works.”

 

Weevil settled back in his chair, satisfied that his grandmother will be getting a good deal from Logan. 

 

Logan and Lettie talked hours and rates, and when Logan left, both were happy. Lettie would come Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm. Weekends and public holidays, the Mars family could look after itself. Her pay was well above minimum wage, and with the car it was a vey good deal. For both of them. Weevil walked out to Logan’s car with him, ostensibly to organise a day to go car shopping. Weevil, however, had another agenda. 

 

As Logan unlocked the car, Weevil lent against the door, using his body as a shield to stop Logan getting in the car. He didn’t realise he was doing it, subtly using the same intimidation techniques he used when out with his bikers. “So, we rent, y’know? It’s been tight these last few months. If this place ever goes up for sale, I want you to buy it for my abuela. I don’t want her going though the stress of the last few months again, wondering how we are going to cover the rent. Stressing that she can’t feed my cousins or me.”

 

“Of course, man. I’m guessing that you overheard what I said before you walked in the room?” Seeing Weevil’s nod, he continued. “ I meant it when I said she kept me alive. She’s the reason I survived all this.” Logan lifted his shirt, turning his back to Weevil. The cross hatched scars were clearly visible, covering his back. Lowering his shirt, he kept his eyes to the ground. He didn’t want to see pity in Weevil’s eyes. “I’ll make some enquiries. I’m sure my lawyer can find out who owns this place. I might be able to convince them to sell it to me without them putting it on the market.” Looking up, he flashed Weevil his trademark smile. “It’s amazing how persuasive I can be. And a wad of cash doesn’t usually go astray, either.”

 

Satisfied that his grandmother wouldn’t be left destitute, Weevil stepped away from the car. “Tomorrow. I’ll meet you at the sheriff's house. We’ll talk cars then.”

 

Driving home, Logan felt lighter than he had in years. Not just the weight of the grief he’d been feeling, but other stresses had been lifted. Stresses he didn’t even know he had. Stresses about Lettie, and people knowing about his father. Stresses that she’d tell someone and they would tell someone. But it seemed that his secret would stay just that way. 


	3. High School - Sophomore Year Part Two

School started up again, and the three of them returned to classes. Lilly and Veronica were still walking zombies, functionally going through their days, but still lost in their clouds of grief. A week into the school year, the three of them arrived at school early. Logan was always and early riser, meeting the surf and the sunrise, and he’d taken to making sure they all got to school on time. Knowing neither Veronica no Lilly should be driving, he became their unofficial chauffeur, even if the only place they were going was school They often arrived early. It was easier to navigate their way into the school with fewer people around. Today was different though. Already, there was a crowd gathered around the school’s flag pole. Seeing the crowd, something snapped in Veronica. She woke up, and pushing her way through the crowd, she felt like she was swimming through water, fighting her way upwards until her head was breaking the surface and taking a deep breath. As she got to the front of the crowd, she saw what she had suspected - someone was taped to the flag pole. A kid she hadn’t seen before. Turning to look at the crowd, she saw Dick Casablancas. She knew he always carried a knife, part of his attempts to be cool. He tried to project this image of a badass, when really he was just a self-indulgent sheltered rich boy.

 

“Your knife?” She asked, hand palm up in front of his face.

 

“Huh?” never the quickest on the uptake, Dick was unsure what she was asking for.

 

“Dick, don’t play dumb. That knife I know you have in your right pocket. I want your knife.” Snapping her fingers, she returned her hand to the same position - hand up, waiting for him to put the knife in it. He didn’t respond for a few seconds, Veronica started tapping her foot. “Waiting Richard.”

 

Seeing the look in her eyes, Dick decided that he’d better do what she asked. She had a look he hadn’t seen since before the fire. Reaching into his pocket, he placed the knife in her upturned palm.

 

“Thank you, Dick.” Looking at the surrounded students, she sighed. “Anyone see anything? No? Well, scram.” Logan walked up behind her, and the crowd scattered. If the king of the school wanted them to scatter, they would scatter. 

 

Turning back to the flag pole, she sighed. “What’d you do to piss off the PCH’ers? You can’t have been in Neptune long. I’m Veronica, that’s Logan who’s gonna loan you some clothing, and the quiet girl is Lilly.”

 

Logan was intrigued to hear Veronica call Lilly the ‘quiet’ one. Before the fire, if he’d had to describe the two girls, he would have said Veronica was the quiet one, and Lilly was the one with spunk. Now, it seemed like the tables were reversed. It was like between them, they had a finite amount of spunk possible, and when one was using it, the other didn’t. Something like that. 

 

Cutting him down, Veronica learnt that the new guy was Wallace, recently moved from Chicago. He worked at a convenience store, and some PCHers had come in and lifted some beers. He’d pressed the silent alarm, and this was retribution.

 

Sighing Veronica told him she’d work it out. 

 

School basically returned to normal after that. Well. As normal as Neptune could ever be. Wallace had become part of their group, this weird hybrid of 09ers and not 09ers. Logan and Lilly might not be living in the 90909 zip code any more, but they were still considered to be 09ers, still treated like royalty. They were still the unofficial king and queen of the school. Veronica had not only gotten the PCHers off Wallace’s back, but had also managed to get the corrupt Deputy Sheriff Lamb fired. As a result, she and Weevil had begun a tentative friendship, and the PCHers owed her a favour. 

 

The school year finished with no more incidents. It was the usual nonsense. Gossip about who was sleeping with who. The weekly scandal. Someone posted a purity test online, and then charged people $10 a pop to get the answers of any other student. Veronica, Lilly and Logan came out of it relatively unscathed. Others didn’t, and it spelt the end to a few friendships and relationships. No one ever found out who posted the test or reaped the rewards for the money, but Veronica had her suspicions.

 

Lilly was still wrapped up in her ball of grief. Unlike Logan, who had never really had any love for his absent mother and sister, and was just relieved that his father was out of his life, Lilly had loved her family. A real daddy’s girl, she had been doted on by her father, and felt his loss acutely. She had spent years teasing Duncan, but she loved him too. Lilly even loved Celeste, to a degree. Celeste had been fond of parading her around to her friends, as some sort of trophy. Lilly had secretly wanted to get pregnant, not because she wanted a child, but to see the look on her mother’s face. 

 

To help protect and guide Lilly, Logan and Veronica had either transferred into her classes where their schedules allowed it, or had her transferred into theirs. Mostly, Logan and Lilly ended up in classes together. Veronica had been taking Advanced Placement and Honours track courses before the fire, and Logan was adamant that she wasn’t going to be transferring out of those. The problem class was art. Neither Logan or Veronica had been able to switch into Lilly’s art class, and they didn’t want to transfer her out of it, because it had been her favourite class before the fire. After the day at the Navarro’s house, and the afternoon buying a car, Logan had developed an uneasy friendship with Weevil. Weevil was in the class, and Logan had asked him to look out for Lilly during the classes. To Veronica and Logan’s relief, Weevil had agreed. As a result, Logan and Weevil had found themselves talking every couple of days. At first, it was just Logan telling Weevil if Lilly was having a bad day, or Weevil filling Logan in on the class. But as the year wore on, they began to talk about other things, slowly finding common ground. Between the three of them, they’d nudged Lilly through her classes with a passing grade. 

 

Weevil also discovered that not only was he okay with watching over Lilly during the art classes, he actually enjoyed going to them. He had been enrolled in them since his freshman year, but his attendance could kindly be described as ‘patchy’. Not only did he enjoy the classes, he was good at them. For the first time in his life, he wanted to go to a class that wasn’t auto shop. One where he had to interact with the 09ers. And one that he was going to pass without cheating or bluffing or intimidating anyone. He and Lilly sat together in the class, and no one questioned it. No one sat with them, either, which was… Weevil struggled to find the right word. He wanted to say nice, but it didn’t really fit. Perhaps good was better. _Yes,_ he thought. _It was good that no one sat with them._ As the semester wore on, Weevil slowly began to see bits of Lilly creeping back in. He could see the grief and pain, but he could also see it tracked in her artwork. The early works were dark and heavy, and as the weeks passed, he began to see flickers of light and colour in her work. He was happy to sit quietly with her. 

 

Logan and Weevil’s friendship was helped when Logan quietly bought Lettie’s house. The owners had been happy to sell it, and Logan had made it worth their while. They were paid above market value, although nowhere near what Logan felt he owed Lettie for keeping him alive throughout his childhood. Lettie protested heavily when Logan and his lawyer came to get the paperwork signed. Logan had made sure Weevil would be home, for moral support and back up. Between the two of them, Lettie eventually capitulated. Weevil was happy to see Logan keeping his word, and happy that now Lettie was safe from eviction. The taxes they would have to pay were considerably less than their rent had been, so financially she was in a good place too. Weevil still felt slightly uneasy that he had let Logan buy the house. He felt like he owed the rich boy something now, and watching Lilly in art wasn’t really enough to even them out. He knew that their friendship was built on a currency of favours. But it worked for them.

 

Logan also felt the friendship was built on a currency of favours. For his part, he felt that he was the one who owed Weevil. Having the burly Latino watch Lilly and buying a house were paltry in comparison to what he felt he owed the Navarro family. And now, Lettie was taking care of him again. This time, it was just food and love that he was getting from her, not the care and protection she had provided during his childhood. With Lettie working for them, home life had been easier. Lettie’s salary was paid from his inheritance. Logan had been apprehensive talking to Keith about it. Logan was worried Keith wouldn’t let him use the inheritance, would make him explain why he felt he owed Lettie. Instead, Keith had just nodded and signed the papers. Lettie’s salary and the cost of the house weren’t frivolous purchases. Although the house took a chunk out of the total that Logan had inherited, it was a very small chunk. Lettie’s salary barely dented the interest the money earned each month. Keith could also see that Logan needed, for whatever reason, to do this for the Navarros. So he’d signed the papers, and seen the relief in Logan’s face when he agreed without any discussion. Keith made a mental note to ask Logan and Lettie about his suspicions about Aaron’s abuse at some point. It didn't need to be done immediately, but he thought that Logan might need help with it in the future. Having Lettie around also appeased Keith’s guilt. Although he rarely saw her, he felt her presence in the house. By cleaning and cooking, she freed the kids to be teenagers. To do homework and hang out and do whatever it was that teens these days were doing. He loved the three of them, but caring for three teenagers was a very different game to caring for a single Veronica. So, he liked Lettie’s presence. 

 

Much as Keith wanted the kids to be doing homework in the afternoons, he didn’t argue with Logan learning to cook from Lettie. To Logan’s surprise, he was enjoying cooking. He found it very relaxing, spiritually calming. Logan was a natural care giver. He preferred to show his love through acts of care, of nurturing and the act of cooking was one of the ultimate acts of care. Without realising it, each meal Logan cooked was a way of him saying ‘I love you’ to his new family. Logan usually made twice as much as the Mars household needed to eat, and sent Lettie home with containers full of food. She protested every time, but always let him fill her car anyway. He would arrive home from school with the girls and he and Lettie would start preparing dinner. Some days, he would find that she had done prep work before his arrival, but mostly, she would say to him “Oh, niño, how about….” and suggest some dish he had never heard of. And they would start to make it, together. She seemed to know all the recipes off the top of her head, and he loved the way she would tell him to add a handful or this, a dash of that or a pinch of the other. The imprecision meaning that it was slightly different each time. He enjoyed the time they spent together, but also made sure she was out of the house by 5:30 each evening. Sending her home with food, Logan felt better that he wasn’t monopolising her time any more. Wasn't taking her away from her own family. It eased the guilt he had about his childhood. And he knew that Weevil appreciated having her home. Not owing the Latino any more than he already did was nice. 

 

Slowly, Logan was realising that he was part of a family. Not just watching one, standing on the periphery, or wanting his family to show some sort of evidence of _being_ a family, but really being part of the family. Logan enjoyed watching Keith and Veronica interact. The way they quipped with each other, the clear love and trust they had made him yearn for everything that was missing from his own childhood. Respect. Veronica clearly respected her father, and Keith respected Veronica. Logan knew that he was taking a risk continuing to sleep in Veronica’s bed with the girls. That it was very possible he wasn’t respecting Keith by doing so. He was happy, possibly for the first time in his life. Happy and secure, and finally understood what family was, how it felt to be part of a family. He had the thing he wanted throughout his childhood. He was happy.


	4. High School - Summer

Summer arrived, and rather than escaping to Mexico as he usually did, Logan stayed in Neptune. It was the first time since he was twelve that he had stayed. The first time he’d wanted to stay. For the first time, there was nothing to run away from. No parents to escape. For the first time, there were reasons to stay. Veronica was fine, she’d come out of the bubble of grief stronger than she went in. She was aware and engaged. But Lilly was still lost. It was the first summer without Duncan, and Lilly was still just going through the motions.

 

Veronica spent the summer working at Java the Hut, making coffee and ignoring the bad pick up lines from men old enough to be her father. She spent her evenings with Lilly and her father, hoping her friend would reappear some time soon. Logan spent the summer surfing with Dick in the mornings, spending his days with Lilly, and his evenings working as a line cook at Mama Leones. It was his first job, and he was amazed that he enjoyed it so much. Surprised that it didn’t feel like a chore, and that he wanted to go to work each day.

 

Lilly spent her summer with a psychologist. It was Weevil who suggested it. He remembered the girl that she’d been before the fire, and the attraction that he’d felt to her spark. He’d spent the semester in class with her, and she was an empty vessel. He knew that Logan and Lilly had enough money for the best possible treatment. 

 

Lilly went to see the psychologist, and the psychiatrist that they referred her to. The psychologist helped her talk, and the psychiatrist prescribed her antidepressants to help her start to feel. Between them, as the summer progressed she slowly started to feel again. Her depression had stopped her feeling. It wasn’t a constant presence of grief or sadness. It was the total lack of any emotion. Slowly, she began to feel again. To process emotions. To feel desire for anything. To feel like she wanted well… anything. She started to taste food again, to want to eat rather than regarding it as a chore. Unlike Veronica and Logan, Lilly didn’t experience a single moment of waking up, of rejoining the world. For her, it was slow. Little things trickled in, each day. Some days were a step backwards, others sideways. Some days she felt like she was swimming through molasses, and others she didn’t feel anything. Throughout the summer, either Veronica or Logan was there with her. Occasionally, there would be someone else - Veronica’s friend Wallace, or Weevil were the main candidates. Weevil was her favourite visitor. He didn’t ask for anything from her. He would just bring his art supplies and sit and draw. Sometimes, he would pass her paper and charcoal and she would draw too, but mostly they would just sit in a companionable silence. 

 

The day before they were due to go back to school, Lilly had woken up in Veronicas arms, and for the first time since the fire, felt awake. Present and engaged and human. She pulled her friend closer, not wanting to lose the comfortable embrace. Not wanting to lose the feeling of being okay, of being alive and well and cognizant. She felt Veronica stir, mumbling about five more minutes. Suddenly feeling mischievous, Lilly remembered the one thing Veronica hated more than almost anything else in the world. Laughing, Lilly shook her sleeping friend awake.

 

“No, now! Time to get up Ronnie! It’s time for some serious shopping. I know I have an inheritance that is just dying to be touched!” Lilly got to her knees, starting to bounce on the bed. 

 

Shaking the last of the sleep from her head, Veronica looked at her friend. She hadn’t heard Lilly call her Ronnie since before the fire. If Lilly had used her name, it was always ‘Veronica,’ the formality reflecting the underlying mental disconnect. Hearing the name Ronnie, there was no way she could say no. “Fine, fine,” she grumbled. Inside she was singing. Finally, her best friend was back. “Let me shower.” 

 

Grabbing a towel and her phone, she texted Logan. _Come home, Lilly is awake. She’s taking me shopping. I *need* moral support._

 

Ten minutes later, Logan had finished surfing and was loading his board onto his truck. Reaching into the cab for his phone, he saw the message from Veronica. Smiling, he message back. _You’re on your own for this one._

 

Smiling to himself, he knew that Lilly was going to be okay. Of course, he’d known that all along. But her voluntarily taking Veronica shopping was one of those things that just sealed it for him. Lilly loved shopping as much as Veronica hated it. He had a plan, and now that Lilly was back in the conscious world, he was going to enact it. Thumbing through his contacts, he made a few phone calls. Keith, Weevil, Wallace. Dick. He called in sick to work. He knew Veronica had the day off, so she didn’t have an excuse. 

 

Stepping out of the shower, Veronica was greeted by Lilly with an outfit, complete with matching bra and underwear. 

 

“This is the only acceptable thing in your wardrobe, Veronica Mars. We seriously need to fix that. Put this on, we leave in five minutes. I’m driving!”

 

Lilly had been the first of them to get her license. Although Duncan was older, his epilepsy meant he had to go through various tests with his doctors before he was cleared to drive. She hadn’t driven since the fire. When Keith pulled the three of them out of school, no one needed to drive, and Logan drove them everywhere when they went back to school. Veronica drove herself to and from work, and Veronica, Logan or Lettie would drive Lilly to the psychologist and psychiatrist. The car Logan had bough her sat in the garage. Logan had driven it twice, to keep the engine turning over, but that was it. Veronica was as apprehensive about Lilly driving as she was about shopping.

 

“How about a compromise? I’ll visit whatever shops you want, and you can dress me up like your life sized barbie doll, if you let me drive?”

 

Grumbling, Lilly agreed. 

 

Despite her misgivings, Veronica had to agree that it was a fun day out. It was nice having her best friend back, nice doing something normal. They had gone far enough away from Neptune that no one would recognise them, and the anonymity was pleasant. Lilly, of course, spent far too much money on her. But for once, Veronica didn’t complain. Lilly had done this before, wild shopping expeditions where she would spend thousands of dollars. But not since the fire. So, Veronica let it slide this time. Besides, she liked the new look. Before the fire, she had dressed in pastels, girly dresses and other Stepford wife-esque clothing. Since the fire, she had dressed in whatever was close - generally jeans and a ratty t shirt. The tshirt was often Logan’s, and way too big for her. She’d cut her hair short, not wanting to deal with the upkeep of her pervious waist length locks. 

 

Lilly set her up with a new look, one that matched the new choppy locks. Leather jacket and tight jeans, tight fitting shirts and boots. Not Stepford. Polished, clean, and as Lilly put it, ‘badass.’ Much as she hated to admit it, Veronica had had a good day, and loved her new look. New year, new Veronica and all that. 

 

Lilly had bought just much for herself. Between them, they filled the back seat of Veronica’s car. Lilly was happy, and Veronica had one of the less painful shopping expeditions of her life.

 

But much as she liked the clothes, perhaps her favourite part of the expedition had been the lingerie. Pre-fire Lilly had always maintained that you should always wear sexy, matching underwear. She maintained that if you looked sexy under your clothes, you would always feel confident. Veronica wasn’t always sure she believed it, but she had followed Lilly’s advice and dutifully purchased matching sets. One bra, two briefs. Her underwear drawer was sufficiently stocked from shopping trips before the fire that out of habit she had just kept wearing sets. But there was nothing new, and some of them were becoming painfully worn.

 

Plus, lingerie shopping with Lilly was always fun. Much to the horror of the shop assistants, they would both take stacks of sets into the same change room, locking the door behind themselves. They would each try on a set, giggling as they discussed how their boyfriends would react. They’d been friends for so long that it didn’t seem weird getting naked in front of each other any more. It was just part of their relationship. 

 

This time was more subdued. Logan and Lilly were nominally still dating. They had never had a conversation about breaking up. But Lilly currently shared a bed with both Logan and Veronica. Logan treated both girls in the same way. Utterly respectfully and totally platonically. Veronica couldn’t even remember waking up with him cupping her breast in his sleep. He was a total gentleman. And Veronica no longer had a boyfriend to tease with the sets. So, the vibe was slightly different. But still fun. Both girls came home with more sets than days of the week. Veronica almost felt like life was normal again.

 

Driving home, Lilly wound down the window and reclined her seat, lifting her feet so the were on the window ledge in the the breeze. “How bad was it, Ronica?” she asked.

 

Veronica chewed on her bottom lip, considering how best to answer her friend.

 

“Bad. Worst for Logan, I think. He snapped out of it first. I took a month or so more. So, he had to watch both of us for a while. And you… you were just gone. A shell. You’d go through the motions, but it was like watching a zombie…” she trailed off, not knowing what else to say. “Weevil has been great, strange as that sounds. You and he shared a class, a common interest really. He got you through art with passing marks. A minor miracle, if you ask me - a miracle we got through any of our classes this year. Weevil seems to have a soft spot for you. He kept showing up here this summer. I know he and Logan have developed some sort of friendship, but I think he was mostly coming to protect you. 

 

“I think Logan has finally found his calling with cooking. Surprising but true. Put a chefs knife and a piece of meat in front of him, and he lights up like it’s Christmas. 

 

“They cleared the rubble away. The fence was destroyed in the fires... I drove down there the other day, and I think someone has been planting. The garden is beautiful, and huge. If you forget what used to be there, it’s peaceful. The sound of the ocean, park benches, all that. I’m surprised they let me in, really, but the guard just waved me through.

 

“Dad… he works a lot, and I think he’s just grateful for Lettie’s help. He’s home every evening though. Dinner with us is more important than his job, he says. We don’t see him in the mornings very much. He goes in so early so that he can be home for dinner. And Neptune is still Neptune. It’s still going to be the start of the class war, and Dad is doing everything in his power to keep the peace. Not always the easiest task around here. I think he worries about us, as well. About the fact that the three of us are still sleeping in the same bed. I know he would come and check on us at random times in the night. He stopped that maybe a month ago?” Veronica shook her head, trying to clear it.

 

Lilly nodded. “It’s weird. I know I lived it all, but it feels so… disconnected. Like, weird hazy, dream like. Like I’m seeing it through a giant aquarium or something. I remember things. Like the safety of sleeping in Logan’s arm, or Weevil sitting with me in art class… but it’s like it happened to a different person.”

 

Veronica nodded. “It’s been bad, but it’s also been getting better. I’ve missed you.” She pulled the car into the driveway and turned to see Logan bounding down the stairs.

 

“There you are, my two favourite girls,” he cried gleefully. Veronica could see a glimpse of the old Logan, the carefree boy she had known before the fire. Opening the back door, he started to grab bags, loading himself up. “Come in, come in, I’ve been waiting. I got lonely!”

 

Veronica narrowed her eyes, feeling suspicious. “Aren’t you meant to be at work this evening?”

 

“I called in sick. First time I’ve done that. I’m such a good little worker. But inside! Moosh!”

 

Shaking her head, Veronica grabbed Lilly’s hand and they walked into the house. 

 

Walking into the house, Veronica inhaled hungrily. “Logan, it smells _amazing_ in here. Is this what you’re all worked up about?”

 

“Inside, inside, oh petite blonde ones!” Smirking as Logan shepherded the girls into the house. Dropping the bags in Veronica’s room, he herded the girls into the backyard. “Out here, out here!” He was practically bouncing with excitement. 

 

As they passed through the living room, Keith pulled Lilly into a hug. “Welcome back,” he whispered in her ear.

 

Finally getting the girls outside, Logan beamed with pride while Veronica and Lilly stood stunned. Bunting and fairy lights were strung across the yard, the lettering reading ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLY AND VERONICA.’

 

“I know it’s not a pony,” Logan said pointedly at Veronica, “but we missed both of your birthdays this year. So, with Lilly back with us,” pulling her into his chest and hugging her tight, “I thought a small celebration would be in order. All our favourite people are here.”

 

Looking around, Veronica realised Logan was correct. Sitting at the table in the middle of the yard were Lettie, Weevil, Wallace, Dick, and Keith. There were three empty chairs, clearly meant for the three of them. 

 

The party was different to anything that Lilly would have planned for herself back before the fire. Or planned for Veronica. Then she had plans of limousines, drinking and boys to see in her sixteenth birthday. Now, however, it felt perfect. 

 

Logan had cooked a feast for the small gathering. The celebration became part birthday, part starting senior year, part wake. For all of them, it was cathartic. Two years of hardship, and they were through the worst. The party was a marker, a symbol of this new beginning.


	5. High School - Junior Year

School started again, and it was like the last year hadn’t happened. They were juniors, and Logan and Lilly walked into school as the unrefuted king and queen. People got out of their way.The past year’s whispered conversations in hallways, shushed when one of them walked by were gone. Instead, there was a look of awe as one of them walked past. Their status was unquestioned. Bucking tradition, they sat at the table in the dead centre of the Quad. They drew their court from all levels of the social strata - Veronica, the sheriff’s daughter. Dick, an 09er. Weevil, leader of the PCHers. Wallace, basketball jock. Meg Manning, Head Cheerleader and 09er. Looking around at lunch, Lilly smiled. It wasn’t where she had expected to be a year ago. But it was right. She was safe and comfortable. She enjoyed her place in the spotlight. She was happy to let the conversation flow around her. Not avoiding the conversation, just happy to observe. 

 

Veronica threw herself into her classes. Her load was entirely AP and Honours courses. She had plans for college. She knew that if she wanted, Logan and Lilly could buy her a place at whatever school she wanted. But she didn’t want her place to be bought. She wanted it to be earned. She was aiming for the Ivy League, and knew the work that required. Neither Logan or Lilly had such lofty dreams. Logan wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, business or English or history maybe. Lilly wasn’t even sure that she wanted to go to college, and that was okay. Logan and Lilly were taking just as many classes, but not at the same academic level. Logan shared his ‘future business leaders of America’ class with Veronica, Lilly was in her PE class. Weevil was in Lilly’s art class. They no longer shared classes with Lilly to watch over her. They just shared classes. Lilly continued to see the psychologist, but every few weeks rather than every few days.

 

Their lives fell into a strange routine. Logan would go surfing with Dick in the mornings, getting home to shower and eat something before driving the girls to school. Logan would sit in the library or on the bleachers with Veronica while Lilly was at cheer practice or with Lilly while Veronica was at the newspaper. Days that there were no after school activities, they would go home and he’d cook with Lettie. More often than not, on those days Weevil would be at the house, and he and Lilly would work on projects for their art classes. Most of Weevil’s art supplies had taken up permanent residence in the Mars living room, rather than being carted around on his bike. Logan worked a few nights a week, and Veronica worked weekends. Lilly had found a job in a clothing boutique, and discovered she loved working there.

 

A month into the school year, Veronica was sitting at the table writing an essay, Logan was cooking and Lilly and Weevil were working on things for art. The companionable silence they were sitting in was normal. They were all comfortable, secure in the presence of the others and didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet with talking. Sometimes there would be music playing in the background, but more often than not the time was punctuated by the sounds of their breathing, by the tips and instructions between Logan and Lettie. 

 

Lilly was watching Weevil paint, watching the picture take form. “You ever thought about pursuing art as a career, Weevs?” she asked idly. 

 

Weevil looked up, surprised. “Nah, chica. That life isn’t for me.”

 

Nodding, Lilly let the subject drop. Weevil had a real talent, and it was a shame he didn’t want to pursue it. But she had gotten to know the biker well, and was sure that if she pushed the subject, he would just dig his heels in. Better to plant the idea and let him ruminate on it for a while first. 

 

The next day at school, Veronica found a petite brunette waiting at her locker. She’d seen the girl around, they were in the same grade after all, but they’d never talked. She was pretty sure the girl was a computer geek, which would explain why they weren’t in the same classes. Veronica took in the blue streaks in her hair, the scuffs on her shoes. The girl was clearly not from the 09 zip, but comfortable with herself. 

 

“So,” the girl started nervously… “y’know how you helped Wallace out with the PCHers last year? Any chance you’d be able to help me out with some information?” She looked at her shoes, anywhere but in Veronica’s eyes.

 

Veronica studied her. She could see the rear in her eyes, the look of… hesitation. She could tell it had taken the girl a lot of courage to come and speak to her. That whatever this was, the girl was worried about it.

 

“Sure, I can try. I have newspaper this afternoon, but do you want to meet me in the library after school tomorrow? I’ll be the one surrounded by books… Oh, and Logan will be there. I can make him go away, if you want?”

 

“Logan can stay, I don’t mind.” The girl finally looked up. “Tomorrow, then? I’m Mac, by the way.” 

 

Veronica nods, and Mac wanders away. 

 

The next day Mac finds Veronica in the library. As advertised, Veronica is surrounded by text books, a laptop, highlighters and pages on notes. Logan sat one table over. 

 

“Is he sitting there because of me?” Mac asked as she sat down.

 

“No, he prefers to stay out of this chaos,” Veronica replied, gesturing at the piles of books around her. “What can I help you with?”

 

“Well… I just…” Mac seems unsure how to start, to say anything about her fears out loud. Veronica knows that if she just stays silent, that if she lets Mac sit, she’ll talk. It’s human nature.

 

Taking a deep breath, Mac focused on the title of the text book nearest to her _Modern Business Practices._ Not taking her eyes of the book she dives in. If she doesn’t say it now, she probably never will. “Can you look into my parents? I just… I just don’t feel like I fit in with them. I’ve never felt like I fitted in with them. They’re lovely. I love them. But it always just feels like something is… off?” She finishes talking and lifts her eyes to meet Veronica’sgaze.

 

“Okay.” Veronica can see the hesitation in the girl’s eyes, the worry. ‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

 

“Thanks, Veronica.” Just asking the question, Mac feels like a weight has been lifted. 

 

Veronica and Mac talk for a half hour or so. Veronica gets details that she thinks will help her to find something, anything out for Mac.

 

Mac stands, moves to leave. “I’ll see you round, then. Bye Logan.” 

 

As she leaves, Logan takes the seat she vacated. “Do you even know if you can help her?”

 

“I’m not sure. I think so, though. And I want to. She just seems so… vulnerable? Lost? I dunno. So something. I wanna help her. It feels right.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Logan moved back to his table. He has a few book there, and goes back to working through his homework.

 

When Lilly bounces up a while later, Veronica had formulated a plan of attack to help Mac out. She didn’t know if it was going to work, but she was looking forward to trying. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew that she wanted to help Mac. Even from their brief encounters, Veronica liked the blue haired girl. 

 

That evening, Veronica stays up late looking for information for Mac. It isn’t much different from doing research for an essay, really. Just the sources were a little different. As with the information she found to help Wallace and the PCHers, Veronica found she had a talent for finding this sort of information. A little after midnight she decided that was enough studying for the day, and headed to bed. Logan and Lilly had headed off hours before. She walked into her room which they were all still sleeping in. Lilly was curled up in Logan’s arms. They looked younger and freer in asleep, curled in the safety of sleep and each other’s embrace. She left the door propped open, the light from the corridor spilling over her sleeping friends faces. They were faced away from the door, so the light didn’t wake them up. She stood there for a few minutes watching them. _This must be what parents feel like when they watch their kids sleep_ , she thought. 

 

Slipping into bed, Logan and Lilly turned to include her in their embrace. It felt like home. As she drifted off, she couldn’t help but think that she loved these two people.

 

A few days later, Veronica thought she had all the information she needed for Mac. She also thought that she was going to be changing the girl’s life.

 

Veronica invited Mac over for dinner a few days later. She’d set Logan a challenge when she told him Mac was vegan, and it was fun watching him freak out. The Mexican food he’d been learning to cook from Lettie were heavy on the meat content, and the Italian he was leaning at Mama Leone were heavy on the cheese. Despite his worries, the meal the cooked was good. Mac enjoyed it, although she spent the meal worrying about what was so bad that Veronica wanted to feed her first. 

 

After dinner, Logan took Lilly into his room so Veronica and Mac could talk in peace. In a rare turn of events, Keith was working a late shift, so was still at the office. 

 

“First things, Mac. This is gonna change your life. You really need to think about that. I’ll tell you, but this is kinda big. Are you sure?”

 

Mac nodded. For the first time, she held Veronica’s eyes as they talked. Veronica took this as a good sign. 

 

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

 

“Okay. Well.” Veronica picked up the manilla folder that was sitting next to her. “You were right. I’m not about to beat about the bush, but this is kinda big. It’s gonna be something you’re gonna think about for a while, and it is gonna change your life. 

 

“Turns out, your parents received a million dollar pay out from the Neptune Memorial Hospital when you were about 4 years old. You and one other family. The Sinclairs. It seems that you and Madison - whose birthday is a day after yours, by the way - were taken home by the wrong families from the hospital. It took a few years to figure out. I’m still not sure how it was established. At the time, the decision was made so that you would each stay with the families that you had spent the last four years with. 

 

“Your dad bought the company he works for with the payout. He had to file for bankruptcy a few years later.”

 

She handed the file over. “I’ve put a few newspaper articles in there, a few other little details. 

 

“It’s… I don’t know what to say to you….Thank you, Veronica. It’s… well, it’s a lot but it also makes total sense to me. I mean, I was tuning into NPR at three, while my dad was watching Nascar. This just… confirms why, I guess?” 

 

“Well. Good. If you need anything else… Actually, do you want desert? I know Logan made something vegan. And it seems cruel for us to eat it without you. And a movie? I kinda have a hankering for some live action comic books action…. Nothing like watching pretty pretty boys to take your mind off things.”

 

“That sounds great, actually. And seriously, who knew Logan Echolls could cook? I mean, I know he’s not the shallow party boy he used to portray, but damn. Dinner was amazeballs, I’m super excited to see what he came up with for dessert.”

 

“I know, right? But he’s really good. It makes him happy. And I like seeing a happy Logan… with everything of the last few years, it’s nice to see. Plus, I’m a useless cook I burn anything that isn’t cookies.”

 

Laughing, the girls called Logan and Lilly back in. The four of them settled onto the couches. The atmosphere is relaxed, and Veronica is glad she helped Mac out. As she walks Mac out to her car later that evening, she tells her to sit with them if she’s ever around during their lunch period. Veronica figures that Mac probably has people that she is already friends with, who she regularly sits with, but she makes the offer anyway.

 

“And if you’re ever wanting someone to cook you vegan delicacies, our door is open. It was kinda fun watching Logan stress about cooking vegan.”

 

Agreeing, Mac drives away, Veronica is pleased. She thinks she has made another friend, something she has always found hard. The 09ers weren’t really her friend. Most of them were only nice to her because of Logan and Lilly. Weevil, Meg, Wallace. She knew that they were all nice to her because they liked her, not because of her status. She hoped to add Mac to that group. 

 

October marked the first anniversary of the fires. The three of them take the week off school. Keith turns a blind eye to them skipping school. They visit Duncan’s grave, and the gardens of the destroyed houses. They cry, and reminisce. Mac, Weevil, Meg and Wallace get their homework for them. The school unveils a fountain remembering Duncan Kane. They stand at the back of the ceremony. It feels fake, disingenuine to them. Duncan hated being the centre of attention, and the ceremony was out of his comfort zone. 

 

When they returned to school the next week, they found that Mac had joined their table for lunch. That evening over dinner, Veronica and Lilly couldn’t but squeal in glee at the way that Dick and Mac were interacting. 

 

“So, I guess Dick and Madison are officially over, then?” Veronica asked Logan.

 

“Yeah, would seem so,” he replied. “I like Mac better, too.” 

 

The next few weeks, they watched the relationship blossom between their friends. Mac is now sitting at their table every day, and she and Dick are almost always sitting next to each other. They turn their bodies towards each other, move towards each other like plants towards the sunlight. They never touch, executing a carefully choreographed dance of mirroring each other’s movements, of almost touches and flirtatious conversation. They are the only ones not aware of their slow courtship. At home, Logan, Lilly and Veronica place bets on how long it’s going to take before they get together. Lilly votes Thanksgiving, Veronica thinks Christmas, but Logan puts his money on New Year's Eve. 

 

Early in November, Logan decides that they are doing Thanksgiving, and they are going to go all out. He wants to cook, and he wants all his friends and family to be there. He wants to make some positive memories about his old home, the property and garden that are now there. He invites everyone he considers to be family, tells them to bring their families. Keith, Lilly, Veronica. Wallace, his mom Alicia and brother Darrell. Mac, her parents and brother. Weevil, his grandmother, nephew and nieces. Dick, whose family will all be away anyway. Meg and her sister. Twenty people in total. Lettie helps him cook. They do most of the prep at Dick’s house - it’s the closest, and no one is using their huge kitchen anyway.While they cook, Weevil, Wallace, Veronica and Mac set up tables and chairs in the gardens of the Kane/Echolls properties. Whoever has been looking after the gardens has been doing a good job. There are trellises with rose vines, wisteria and a large paved area. The weather forecast is for a clear night. Southern California is putting on a beautiful day, and there are no worries about them eating outside. 

 

Dick helps Logan and Lettie transport the food, and they sit down to eat just before sunset. 

 

Going around the table, talking about what they are thankful for, Logan can’t help but feel thankful for every person sitting with them. He wishes that his life didn’t change in the way it did - no one really deserves to die in a fire like his parents did - but it put him on this path. Without their deaths, he wouldn’t be sitting with these people. But he doesn’t say any of that, unsure of how to phrase the sentiment. Instead, he simply thanks whoever has been maintaining the gardens. Fairy lights have been strung up, lighting their dinners. Without the height of the second story balconies, the ocean isn’t visible over the sand dunes, but the sound of the waves on the beach is relaxing. He is content and happy in a way he never expected. 

 

Christmas came and went. It was a quiet affair in the Mars household. Veronica wanted to create new traditions, new memories for their family. She’d read about Eastern European traditions of Christmas dinners on Christmas Eve. These were vigils, waiting for midnight mass. None of them were religious, but she liked the idea of the Christmas vigil. Of creating traditions that were new to the Mars family, that weren’t tainted by memories of dead loved ones. Again Logan cooked. He had found dishes drawn from all over Eastern Europe. A red beetroot soup from the Polish/Ukrainian border. Pierogi from Poland. Fish as the main meat was a common theme across the countries. Cookies and cakes from Russia, Hungary and Lithuania. There were more, but he kept it small, knowing he was only feeding the four of them. The meal was just… right… for the family. Uncomplicated, and not loaded with previous ideas of what the holiday season should be.

 

The next day, they had decided they weren’t doing the full dinner. They opened presents in the morning, and spent the day glazing a ham. Dinner was spent watching Christmas movies and eating ham and left overs. 

 

Dick hosted the New Years party that year. A costume party, of course - he never could resist an opportunity to dress up, or encourage girls to wear skimpy clothing. This year, he’d decided on ‘movies’ as his theme. His brother was away at boarding school, his father was away with work or something and between wives. He had the house to himself, as he did almost every year. He had access to unlimited cash and a huge house. It only made sense that he was the host. Usually, it was just the 09ers he invited. This year, however, he’d made an open invitation to the school. Mostly, he wanted Mac there. But he’d also found out that he liked the people he’d met that year. The people who didn’t live in his zip. Weevil, Meg, Wallace. Veronica if you wanted to split hairs, although he still considered her one of them. Over the last year, he’d realised that the class divide that was so strong in their school was kinda nuts. And this was one way he could help break it down. 

 

The party was good. A success. The inclusion of non-09ers meant that certain 09ers stayed away. Madison Sinclair, Shelley Pomeroy. A few others. Dick didn’t miss their presence. He’d hired a few people to ferry drunk party goers home from the party, and filled a room with mattresses for the ones that just wanted to crash. For the first new years in a while, Dick didn’t get himself written off, too drunk to see midnight. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he found he wanted to see midnight. He had a reason to stay sober until then.

 

Dick was a good party host, Mac observed. He would wander about, checking his guests were all good. Occasionally he would talk to a driver and get them to drive someone home. He kept snacks available, chips and dip, hot finger food. He knew that people would have fun at these parties, and Logan had told her in passing when she noticed people disappearing upstairs that Dick had put piles of condoms on the dressers of all the spare bedrooms. The ones he didn’t want people in had been locked. Watching all this, Mac felt less like an intruder than she had expected. Because while she was watching that Dick being a good host, Mac noted that he kept coming back to stand with her, making sure her cup was full of something and that she ate some of the vegan appetizers he’d organised. 

 

She’d also noted that their costumes matched. Watching Veronica, Logan and Lilly, she wondered who had organised that. Her money was on Veronica. Logan, for his part, was congratulating himself on convincing both of his friends that they should wear their costumes. He was sure he was going to win the bet tonight. Logan looked around at his friends. He’d ended up sitting on a couch between Veronica and Lilly. Mac, Wallace, Weevil and Meg were sitting in nearby couches. Dick would come back and sit by Mac every few minutes, then flit off to fulfill some host duty. Logan’s arms were draped over Lilly and Veronica’s shoulders, and both girls were leaning into him. He was still technically dating Lilly, but they hadn’t really done anything more than hold hands since the fire. He wasn’t sure exactly what the relationship was anymore. The rest of the school thought they were dating, but he wasn’t totally sure. What he did know was that he loved both the girls, and didn’t want to see either of them hurt. 

 

Tonight, much as a New Years kiss would be lovely, he was more interested in watching Dick and Mac anyway. He’d managed to convince Dick that he wanted to be Danny, dressed all in black from the end of grease. And Mac, he’d dressed her up as Sandy, black leather and all. He had to admit Mac looked hot, even if she wasn’t his type. He always enjoyed dressing up for Dick’s parties. This year was no exception. He’d managed to convince both Lilly and Veronica to dress in costumes from his favourite movie. Much as he would never admit it, he loved the cheesiness of the _Rocky Horror_. He had tossed up between Rocky and Frank-n-Furter, but decided that Frank-n-Furter was just so iconic he’d have to get corseted. He’d convinced Lilly that she wanted to be Columbia, and Veronica to be Magenta. Seeing how excited he was, both girls had just laughed, and gone with his idea. Talking to her friends, Veronica had to admit that he was right. She was having fun, and the skimpy maid costume meant she was clothed enough not to feel self conscious. 

 

As it neared midnight, Dick reappeared and perched on the arm of the sofa next to Mac. Logan knew that Mac had been drinking, but he also knew Dick had been mixing her drinks, and had been mixing them weakly so that she didn’t get wasted. Dick had been drinking the same things, and while he was buzzed and relaxed, he was nowhere near being drunk. Logan smiled as Mac stood up and motioned for Dick to sit in her place. As Dick sat, Mac settled herself on his lap, continuing the conversation she was having with Weevil. Somewhere in another part of the house, someone started counting down to midnight. Glancing at his watch, Logan confirmed the countdown was correct, and joined in with the others. As everyone yelled ‘Happy New Year’ he turned away from Mac and Dick, not wanting to be part of the intimacy of their first kiss. 

 

“I think I win,” he whispered in Lilly, then Veronica’s ears.

 

Veronica was happily drunk. Even before the fire, she didn’t drink much, and the line between happy and asleep was a thin one. She smile, then settled herself further into Logan’s embrace. As she drifted towards sleep, she couldn’t help but think she would have liked a New Years kiss, but her half asleep mind couldn’t decide if she wanted Logan or Lilly to give it to her. Logan could feel Veronica falling asleep on him. Turning to Lilly, he kissed her gently on the lips. It was first kiss they’d shared since the fire, and he could feel her need as she kissed him. Breaking away, he gestured at the now asleep Veronica. Lilly smiled and nodded. She loved the petite blonde, and was happy to take her home. She stood up, made a general farewell to the room and went to find a driver to take them home. Logan carefully lifted Veronica’s sleeping form. Partly waking, she wrapped her arms around Logan’s neck as he carried her to the car.

 

“Love you, Lo,” Veronica had mumbled as they got nearer the car. 

 

Getting home, Logan laid the still sleeping Veronica on the bed, then left the room to let Lilly change her. Lilly helped her friend out of the costume and into pajamas, and carefully wiped the makeup from her friend’s face. 

 

Veronica stirred at the cold feeling of the makeup wipe on her face. Blinking, she stared into her friends face. “Love you, Lil.” 

 

Calling Logan back into the room, they all settled into bed. As always, the door was open, but Logan knew Keith trusted them. Veronica quickly settled back to sleep. 

 

“She told me she loved me this evening,” Logan murmured to Lilly.

 

“Me too,” Lilly replied. “I know she does, but it’s nice to know, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah.” Logan settled into silence, listening to the two girls breathe.

 

“I love her, y’know, Lilly? And I love you. I wouldn’t have gotten through the last year and a half without the two of you.”

 

Placing a kiss on his lips, Lilly nodded. “I love both of you, too. Y’all got me through this. Who knows what would have happened without you.”

 

“Yeah. Who knew we’d be sleeping in the Sheriff’s house, in the Sheriff’s daughter’s room every night. I can’t imagine trying to sleep without you guys anymore. 

 

“I know we got further than a chaste kiss before everything happened, Lil. I know our relationship is so different now, I don’t want to push that part of our relationship. But I want you to know I still consider it to be a possibility. I still love you, I’m still in love with you and I think that you’re sexy and hot and beautiful.”

 

“You too, Logan. But I love her too, you know? I know she and Duncan never got far. She wanted to wait, and Duncan never wanted to push her. I think about the most they did was make out. I don’t know where we go from here.”

 

“Me either. But we have time to figure it out.”

 

“Mmm hmmmm,” Lilly mumbled, nestling into his shoulder. Logan could feel Lilly falling asleep and didn’t pursue the conversation any further. It was one that they’d have to have though. He loved both girls. He was attracted to both of them. 


	6. High School - Senior Year

Two weeks into their senior year, Veronica started filling out her college applications. Top schools - Yale, Harvard, Stanford. Oxford. NYU, Brown, Duke, Cornell, Berkley. The applications filled any spare time she had, but also took her mind off the approaching date. Logan and Lilly joined in the application frenzy. They applied to the same schools as Veronica, but also the less prestigious schools in the same areas. Both knew that their choice would depend on Veronica. Wherever she got in, they’d follow. It didn’t occur to them to consider college without each other. 

 

The year passed slowly. They took the day off school to mark the anniversary of the fires. They visited Duncan’s grave. Told him what was happening in their lives. Then spent the rest of the day at the garden. Keith had guessed they would be there, and had made sure there wasn’t anyone else there to intrude on their solitude. He’d also made sure there was a cooler of food there. He turned a blind eye when Lettie packed a bottle of champagne. “To celebrate Duncan’s life with. Death can be a celebration, too,” she’d explained. 

 

They’d held Christmas Eve again, and Dick had hosted New Year. They’d settled into a comfortable routine. School, study, work, friends. They were living. 

 

Mid-March, Weevil came around to paint with Lilly. While he was usually so relaxed sitting at the easel, today his body language was tense and twitchy. Lilly watched him, unsure what the problem might be. After an hour of watching him fidget and shift, she finally spoke up. “Weevs, what’s up?” Veronica and Logan tensed. They kept focused on what they were doing, but listened carefully to the conversation between Weevil and Lilly. 

 

“Huh, chica?”

 

“You’re all twitchy and jumpy today. Wired like a jack in the box ready to pop. Something’s up. Just tell us already.”

 

“It’s Felix, y’know? He’s like my brother, my right hand man. He’s family. And he’s fallen in love with this girl. A Fitzpatrick. And you know us and the Fitzpatricks. If anyone from their side finds out, they’re both dead. If any of my boys find out, they’re dead. He’s my brother. I just want him safe… and alive. I know this gang shit isn’t really your deal… but, maybe your dad could help?”

 

Lilly knew when Weevil asked about her father, he wasn’t talking about Jake Kane. He meant the sheriff, the man who had become her father. 

 

“We’ll talk to him. Stay for dinner, Weevs.”

 

Nodding, Weevil went back to the painting he was working on. His body language was still tense, but less twitchy.

 

After dinner, Weevil and the sheriff talked. 

 

“I can do this, I can move them so they’re safe. But, it means that they are cut off. No contact. Ever again. It’s the trade off, son. Their safety, their lives, for radio silence.”

 

Weevil just nodded. He knew the stakes coming to the sheriff.

 

“Just, do it. Whatever it takes.”

 

“Okay. I’ll make it happen.”

 

Felix wasn’t at school the next day. Nor was Molly Fitzpatrick. Lilly, Logan and Veronica didn’t see Keith for the next two days. They knew that something had happened, that Keith had acted. They could see Weevil’s pain at the loss of his friend. A loss to save his life. But they could also see his relief, knowing the pay off was their safety, their lives. The cost was worth it.

 

********

 

The year progressed, and acceptance letters started trickling in. For all of them. They talked, and decided that they wanted to get out of California. Away from Neptune. Keith understood. He knew that they needed to leave to find themselves, to shape themselves as adults. Away from everyone who knew them in California, away from the gossip magazines and paparazzi. Away from being Jake Kane’s daughter, and Aaron Echoll’s son. He was so proud of all of them, but they needed to go somewhere they could experience more anonymity than California offered. 

 

In the end, the decision became simple. Veronica accepted her place in Columbia pre-Law, Lilly to Fine Arts at NYU, and Logan to the Culinary Institute of America. They were good schools, and allowed them to stay in New York together. Lilly and Logan. Although they wanted, as Keith put it, the ‘full college experience,’ none of them wanted to be apart from each other. If they went into dorms, they’d have to split up. They decided to look for a place in the city together. They’d all have a bit of a commute, but it was worth staying together. 

 

What surprised them was how many of their friends also ended up in schools in New York. Mac decided on Cornell. Dick wasn’t going to college, but after they’d gotten together at his New Years party, he was happy to follow Mac across the country. Meg was at Sarah Lawrence. Wallace got a basketball scholarship to Syracuse. They wouldn’t be in the same city, granted but they all took solace in the security that there would be people in the same state. Weevil was the only undecided one. He just wanted to get out of the PCHers, and getting out of California seemed like a good way to do it. New York seemed like a good city, but without a reason, he couldn’t just pack up and leave his aubela. 

 

Too soon, it seemed, it was the day of their high school graduation. Lettie was throwing a party, again using the Echolls/Kane gardens by the beach. She’d taken Logan aside several days earlier, thanking him for saving her Weevil. “He’d be in prison by now, if it wasn’t for you getting him to watch Lilly in that class, niño, I think he’d be in prison by now. I’m so happy to see him graduate.” Logan had just blushed, knowing he was the lucky one. Weevil had helped keep Lilly alive.

 

Walking across the stage felt surreal. The caps and gowns, the diplomas, pomp and circumstance. Veronica was valedictorian, and giving her speech she looked at the crowd. The people who she spent the last four years with, the people she would be leaving soon. She felt herself tear up, and before she knew it, she was crying on stage. Not how she wanted to finish her senior year, but how it ended. Afterwards, at the party, Keith told her he’d gotten the whole soggy mess on camera, and was prepared to use it as leverage to get them all to come home regularly.


	7. College - Freshman Year Part One

Dick held a 4th of July party on the beach. Instead of the blowout he usually threw for the 09ers, he held a smaller gathering on the private beach past the Echolls/Kane property. He and Mac were happily together. They were such opposites, but they just worked together. And while she was happy to got to big parties with him, Mac preferred the smaller gatherings of their group of friends. So the fourth was spent with Dick, Logan, Veronica, Weevil, Wallace and Meg on the beach. A bonfire, music and food. A few drinks. From the beach they could watch the fireworks. As with all the parties they went to, Logan found himself with his arms around the two girls. Their friends had seen it so often that they didn’t see anything usual about it. It was just their friends, how they were. 

 

Logan, Lilly and Veronica visited New York three times that summer. The trips were to find somewhere for them to live. The final trip Keith went with them, to see the apartment Logan and Lilly had purchased, to see the neighbourhood. They’d ended up with a five bedroom place. One room for each of them, a guest room, and one room they would share. He helped them go furniture shopping, test local take-away places. He liked the place. Keith made friends with the doorman, who promised to keep him in the loop. 

 

And then, it was time to start school. Logan had asked Lettie to keep cleaning and coking for Keith. They shipped the last few boxes of possessions to New York. They left their cars in Neptune. If they needed one in New York, they’d buy one there, but Logan doubted the would. Between the subway and cabs, they would be true New Yorkers. Plus, he didn’t fancy driving in the city. He doubted either of the girls did either. 

 

The week before they were due to leave, Keith took Logan aside. The girls were out shopping, and it was just the two of them in the house.

 

“I have to apologise to you, son,” Keith started. “I feel like I’ve failed you.”

 

Logan looked at keith, shocked. “You haven’t. I feel more at home here than I ever have. I feel like you are family… I finished school and got into college on my own merit. There’s no way that you’ve failed me.”

 

“Perhaps the last year makes up for it somewhat, but I still feel like I failed. You’d been Veronica’s friend for what, four years before you started living here? And how much of that time did you spend here before that? I like to think I’m a good sheriff, that I was good at my job and that I didn’t miss things. But I didn’t see what was just under my nose. Your father. Your back, Logan. How long was that going on for?”

 

Logan looked down. He’d never really talked to anyone about this.

 

“Since I was six, sir.”

 

“I’m sheriff, I should have seen, I should have protected you better.”

 

Keith could see the tears in Logan’s eyes as he looked up. “You didn’t know. I survived. It’s fine.”

 

“No, son, it’s not. I failed to protect you. I failed at my sworn duty. I should have seen the signs. The long sleeves in summer, the way you used to hold yourself so stiff like you didn’t want to bump anything. The way you were happy at our house, even after Lianne died, even though your house was bigger, the entertainment would have been better there.The long sleeves in summer, the way you would pull your sleeves over your hands when you were nervous. The stiffness you sometimes held yourself with. The caged look in your eyes at some questions. Your reluctance to go home some days. The signs were all in front of me, I just didn’t see them.”

 

Pulling Logan close to him, Keith held the broken boy as he cried. There was nothing else he could do now, nothing else he needed to do. Logan was safe from Aaron’s wrath, but he still felt he’d failed the boy he’d come to think of as a son.

 

Logan’s tears slowly stopped, and his breathing evened out. He pulled back from Keith, wiping his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve.

 

“Did you know there were paparazzi camped out in front of the house for nearly two months after you guys moved here? Everyone wanting the photo, the payout for getting your grief on film. It was one of the reasons I pulled you guys out of school. So you didn’t have to deal with all of that. And also one of the reasons I never worried about you guys in Veronica’s room. It was at the back, and there was no line of sight in. No way for them to get a photograph through the windows. You were safer there than in your own rooms.

 

“The last one left maybe two days before you went surfing that first time. I was so glad that they’d left. I had never considered Aaron’s fame transferring to you, but it did. I wonder what they’d think if they knew what their poster boy had done… Perhaps New York is the best for you guys. The people care less about celebrity. You guys will have more anonymity. More peace and privacy. I think you need it. You and Lilly were so scrutinised as kids. You never really got the childhoods you deserve. That all kids deserve. I know your father fed off the attention. The loss of a human life is never something to be talked about lightly, but I’m glad that this whole thing got you out of the media attention. Stopped him whoring you out for the publicity. Stopped the perfect family act you were forced to participate in.

 

“It was me who kept the gardens alive. I figured that one day you’d want to visit, and I couldn’t bear the thought of one of you three visiting the mess, the rubble that was there.The grounds keeper from your property and the Kane’s property look after it. They oversaw the clearing, the paving and everything. I don’t know what you guys want to do with the land, but for the moment, it’s there for you. They’ll keep it up for you.”

 

Logan didn’t know what to say, he just nodded. He’d ask Keith about their wages later, but today he would leave it. 

 

******

 

A week later, Keith was putting his three children on a plane to New York, and trying not to sob uncontrollably. Mac had set him up with a state of the art computer and wireless system, and he knew she was setting the same thing up in the New York apartment. 

 

They flew first class, something that Lilly and Logan took for granted but was still very new to Veronica. She was slowly coming to terms with them just spending money on her. They had it to spare. She was beginning to get the impression that she would never have to worry again.

 

Life in New York was… different. They had no other word for it. They all had a new routine. They were going to different schools, to different classes. Their friends weren’t around, they didn’t have the same social support network - only themselves. Lilly and Veronica had a few night classes, Logan an apprenticeship two nights a week. Friday night was the only night they mutually had free, and it became sacred. Logan would cook, and they would watch a movie or play board games. More often it was a movie. The nights that Logan was home he’d cook, when it was just the girls they would order take awayor eat leftovers. 

 

Logan missed surfing in the morning, but found that there were a few parks near their apartment. He started running in the morning. It was difficult at first, different to anything that he’d done before. A few weeks in, Veronica joined him on the morning runs. He liked the silence and rhythm of them. The world was quiet when they went running. It was calm in a way that the city never was in the evenings.

 

Logan found that he missed Keith’s company, missed having a father figure in his life. He would call Neptune every few days for an update. Veronica called about once a week. Lilly called every few weeks. Of all of them, she was the most in her element in New York. She loved and missed Keith, but she loved the life that was being created in New York. 

 

Moving out of the Mars house and into their own place, the three teens found that they had freedoms previously unexperienced. They continued to sleep in the same bed. It was comfortable, safe, and normal to them. They didn’t think they’d be able to sleep any other way. Lilly had found a California king four posted bed, and it took up all of the master bedroom. There was no other furniture in the room, not even night stands. They kept all their individual belongings, clothing, school books and whatever else they wanted in their own rooms. Each bedroom had a king sized bed, made up but never slept in. They were mostly for show. Because it was easier than explaining the truth. And because the weren’t yet ready to admit the truth, even to themselves. 

 

They settled into their routine, and they all enjoyed their classes. Slowly, they realised that they liked their lives. New York was good for them. 

 

*******

 

A the week before their first Halloween in New York, Lilly was walking to class a new route. She’d gotten off the subway at a different stop, and so hadn’t seen any of the shops before. Plastered in the window of one was a sign that caught her eye. 

 

“Wanted: Tattoo apprentices”

 

She quickly snapped a picture of the sign, and went inside. She was glad she had art history on a Thursday, because it meant that she had her lap top with her. Walking down the stairs into the small shop, she smiled as the guy behind the counter looked at her. In the pastels and sneakers, she wasn’t exactly the customer they usually got in there. Too clean cut, too much money.

 

Flashing her most brilliant smile, she asked to speak to the owner about the sign in the window. 

 

“That’d be me, hon, but you’re not really what we’re looking for.”

 

“That’s fine, luv,” she countered, “because I’m not looking for me. A friend. He is a brilliant artist, but doesn’t want to do anything with it… I think this’d be perfect for him. I have his portfolio here on my laptop. You should look at it.” 

 

Without waiting for a response, she opened the laptop, quickly bringing up the file that contained all of Weevil’s art. She’d had Veronica photograph everything and upload it for Weevil, in case he did want to pursue something with his art. She’d had Veronica do the same for her, and Mac create an online portfolio of both of their works. Her portfolio was live, but she hadn’t activated Weevil’s. It didn’t seem right without his permission. 

 

Turning the laptop back to the owner, she indicated to the keyboard. “Scroll through. His work is good, and he has a good eye. Plus, he’s an ex biker. Scare away the riff raff.”

 

The guy behind the counter sighed and flicked through the pictures. While he looked at Weevil’s portfolio, she flicked through the shop’s portfolio. She could see Weevil’s style fitting in well here. The more the owner saw of Weevil’s work, the more he like the guy’s style. As he got to the last page, a photo came up. 

 

“This him, hon?” 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Well, I like his style. Can he come in tomorrow to see me?”

 

“Saturday. I’ve gotta get him out here from Cali.”

 

“Sure, sure. Bring him in. I’ll meet with him. It’s a long way to go for a job though.”

 

“Yeah, but it might be just what he needs. What time do you open Saturday?”

 

“Midday.”

 

“Cool, we’ll see you then.”

 

Walking out of the shop, Lilly unlocked her phone and called Weevil. 

 

“Hey Weevs. I’ve sent you a photo, and you have a job interview on Saturday. It looks good. Remember that card I gave you? Use it to book yourself a flight out here, and text me the details. I’ll meet you at the airport.”

 

“Wait, what? You got me an interview, Lil? Are you forgetting I don’t live in NYC, chica?”

 

“Nah, I didn’t. But this gives you an out of Neptune, out of the PCH. You know you want that. Face it, you were gonna end up here sooner or later. This way, it’s sooner. The shop is in a decent area, I saw the autoclaves, and…”

 

“Fine, fine. If I come out, will you stop talking?”

 

“You know it. Do my bidding, and I’ll be nice and quiet.”

 

“Fine. I’ll give you call when I have tickets. I guess I’m crashing with you guys then?”

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Talk soon. I’ve gotta go to class. Bye!”

 

Weevil stared at the phone. Two months. That is all it took for him to be drawn into their circle. And it was two months too long. If Lilly liked the idea of this job, he’d come. If they offered him a job or whatever, he’d take it. He’d get out of Neptune. Out of the PCH. His aubela was looked after, he didn’t have to worry about her financially any more.She was still working for Keith, and without the three teens, her job was easy. Keith was low maintenance, and didn’t ask for much. He was hesitant to admit it to himself, but this job might just be what he needed to get himself out, to get himself settled and into a better life.

 

Scrolling through his contacts, Weevil rang Veronica.

 

“V, hey.”

 

“Hey Eil.”

 

“Lilly’s found me a job in the city. I’m booking flights in tomorrow. I get into La Guardia at 4pm on American. Just letting you know, give you guys time to make the apartment… presentable. Get that guest room I know that you’ve got waiting for me ready.”

 

He heard Veronica’s laugh on the other end of the phone. “Of course she did Eli. We’ll see you at the airport. You bringing much luggage? Do we need a town car or will a taxi do?”

 

“Taxi’s fine. I’m gonna come with hand luggage only. This is just a visit, y’know.”

 

“Course it is, Eli. You keep telling yourself that. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

Hanging up, Veronica laughed to herself while she texted Lilly and Logan.

 

_Weevil will be in at Friday 4pm, La Guardia._

 

Putting her phone away, Veronica returned to her book. She had a few hours between classes, and was up to date with her reading and assignments for the semester. She was using the time to read for pleasure, visiting Central Park like the New Yorker she hoped to become. 

 

Of course Lilly had found a job for Weevil. And if Veronica knew Lilly, Weevil would be offered the job and he’d take it. And he’d excel. It was Weevil’s ticket out of Neptune, out of that life. They all knew he needed it, and it’d be nice to have another one of their friends in the state.

 

4pm Friday saw them at the airport, waiting at the arrival gate for Weevil. Logan’s penchant for the dramatic had him trying to convince them buying $49 one way tickets to get them past the security gates was a good idea. Veronica’s love of the logical told him that if they bought the tickets, checked in, then they were going to cause the plane delays by not boarding. He’d sighed and capitulated. But he held fast to his other plans for Weevil’s arrival. The dramatic flair also meant they had signs to hold up - ‘Welcome’ ‘Home’ ‘Eli.’ As Weevil walked through the gates to baggage claim, he was greeted by the smiles of his friends _Friends_ , he thought. _Who knew two years ago, that I’d consider these people to be friends?_

 

“So, Friday nights are family dinner night. It’s the only night of the week that we are all home. So, obviously you’re invited, but we’ll be staying in. Plus, the place is tricked out, and Logan is kinda an awesome, cook, yeah?” Lilly was saying. “Then tomorrow, I’ll take you to the tattoo parlour. I don’t know what these two will be doing, but that’s where we will be. You bought your portfolio, right?”

 

Weevil nodded. He’d learnt that when Lilly started talking like this, you just let her talk. He exchanged a glance with Logan and saw the boy incline his head just slightly. Weevil smiled at the gesture, the recognition that you just let her talk.

 

Lilly chatted on most of the cab ride home. Weevil’s eyes widened as he saw where they lived. He knew that New York was expensive, that apartments were small. But the neighbourhood was good, the doorman was polite and the apartment was huge. Bigger than his aubela’s house. 

 

Weevil didn’t pry when they gave him the tour. He didn’t know how their relationship worked, but he knew there was something between the three of them. He’d never really thought about it back in Neptune, but here it became obvious that only one of the beds was used, only one was slept in. 

 

Dinner was fun. Logan was a good cook, and Weevil loved tasting his aubela’s dishes. Logan’s tasted so similar, he couldn’t fault the white boy’s Mexican cooking. Dinner was followed by games night, with Veronica shocked that Weevil had never played _Ticket to Ride._ Throughout the evening, conversation flowed easily between the friends. Watching them, Weevil couldn't help but notice that the three of them were so intertwined that it was hard to tell where one started and the other stopped. They all touched each other, almost constantly. He didn’t think they realised it - but if one of them got up they’d brush their hand across the shoulder of anyone they passed. Their touches were familiar and loving, and completely unconscious. Even when they picked him up from the airport, they almost never lost contact with one another. Weevil wondered when they would finally admit what was between the three of them. 

 

The next morning they went out for a lazy brunch before Lilly took him to the tattoo parlour. Walking down the steps, Weevil felt apprehensive, but as soon as he saw the owner, he felt at peace. At home. Like he belonged. Talking to the owner, Lucas, he realised that Lilly may have dragged him here, but he wanted this. He liked Lucas, liked the way that he talked so passionately about tattooing as an art form. He liked the guy’s work, he liked the feel of the shop. He could imagine himself working here. 

 

Lucas listened to Weevil talk, and saw his eyes light up when he talked about his art. His eyes flicked between Weevil and Lilly. The girl clearly had money, and Weevil didn’t. He wondered how their paths had crossed, how they had become friends. He figured he’d find out soon enough. He liked Weevil, and could see the potential.

 

“So. If I take you on as an apprentice, it’s a 45 hour work week. Tuesday to Saturday midday to 10pm. We close at 4pm on Friday. Sabbath dinner. There is a small apartment out the back that comes with the job. It’s yours if you want it. Pay is minimum wage, healthcare, dental. Six month probation period. That means that we both have the option of an out during that time. After you’re qualified, pay is minimum wage plus fifteen percent of whatever work you do. You’ll be trained as a tattoo artist and a piercer. 

 

“You also have to take a small business course - accounting, management, that sort of thing. I’ll enroll you, pay the course fees, but you’ll be doing the study in your free time. You’ll need a laptop, there’s wifi in the shop that you can access from the apartment.

 

“If you want anything done, before you qualify, you pay materials plus the 15% commission the artist would usually get. After you’re qualified, you pay materials and either the 15% or get them to donate their time. If they like you and trust you, they generally will. 

 

“It usually takes about a year to get qualified. Depends on your dedication really. 

 

“Until you’re qualified, friends and family get a 10% discount. After, if you are willing to donate your time, they pay materials.

 

“I run a clean shop here. We don’t have any gang ties. That means that you, the ex biker need to stay an ex biker. If I find you’ve gone back to that life, you’re out. Automatic dismissal, even if you're are in the probation period. No drugs either.

 

“Any questions?”

 

“Yeah,” Weevil replied with a grin. “When do I start?”

 

Monday, it turned out. 

 

When Weevil rang his grandmother, she wasn’t surprised to find he had taken the job. She promised to send his things across. Logan had left a credit card with her for emergencies, and she promised to use that. His bike was safely in the garage, and he didn’t need it in the city. 

 

He started work on Monday. Wednesday, he moved into the apartment. It was small, but he liked it. A bathroom, tiny kitchen, bedroom and tiny living area. Unfurnished, something that Lilly soon rectified. The girl loved to shop, and she did it well so he wasn't complaining.

 

So far he liked the other members of the shop he’d met. Lucas employed four people, plus Weevil as an apprentice. There is Heather, the only woman in the shop. She has more visible piercings than tattoos, and is something of a rockabilly pin-up. She’s sexy, and knows it. Weevil watches her with customers for the first few weeks, and sees that she uses it to her advantage. She flirts with everyone, male and female. But she knows when to tone it down for the people that don’t flirt back, who find that sort of communication uncomfortable. Heather specialises in piercings, but has a small and loyal clientele of people who get tattoos from her. One or two a week, enough to keep her skills sharp. Dan is the oldest guy in the shop, and he works mostly on black line work. Stu is in his mid thirties, and is deeply in love with his wife and kids. He talks to all his clients about them, and Weevil sees how it calms them to hear about the happy domesticity he lives in. Goldy is the previous apprentice. The turn over isn’t high in the shop, with an average of about 7 years with Lucas after getting certified. But not all apprentices make it through. Goldy is happy to talk about the classes, help Weevil out. Weevil likes him, and loves that he is a gay tattoo artist. 

 

Weevil had been right when he told Lilly that a life of drawing and painting, wasn’t for him. He couldn’t do fine art. His childhood left him with a certain amount of roughness than didn’t suit that sort of life. But being a tattoo artist, that used the artistic streak, but also involved the roughness. He was yet to pick up a gun, but he was content. 

 

When Mac and Dick came down for Halloween, he got Mac to go laptop shopping with him. He ended up with something that she assured him was the best on the market. When he went to pay, she waved his card away. “This is from all of us - Logan, Lilly, Veronica, Me, Mac, Wallace, Dick, Meg. Call it a late graduation slash congratulations on the job present.”

 

******* 

 

The evenings Logan and Lilly spent together gave them the chance to talk seriously and deeply. They were young before the fires, self involved and naive. They’d spent two years growing up, two years learning how to think of others as well as themselves. Their relationship had been put on hold during that time, and had evolved without them even being aware of it. They had both changed. They were different people. Their lives were different, and they both thought they were better for it. Before the fires, they were uncomfortable in themselves, uncomfortable with each other. They shared an attraction, but couldn’t cope with the familiarity their relationship offered. Unable to sit in silence, they had to fill it with conversation, with action. The physical expression of their relationship served to hide, to mask the fear of the silence they felt. As their relationship had matured during the last two years, they found that they no longer needed to fill the silences. They could sit with each other and felt as close as they ever had when they had expressed their intimacy.

 

Some nights they would talk, others they would sit and study. More often than not, the evenings would end with them lying in bed, making out until they fell asleep. Veronica would crawl into bed with them when she finished classes in the evenings. 

 

“I’m deeply, consumingly in love with you,” Logan started as they lay in bed one night. “You are part of me. I want you to be part of the rest of my life…” He trailed off, thinking about how to express himself fully.

 

“You are part of me, and I love you. But, Veronica is a part of me as well…”

 

Logan lapsed into silence, staring at the ceiling. He could feel Lilly idly tracing figures of 8 on his chest. Lilly’s head was resting on his chest above his heart, and she could feel it racing. She’d thought it was from them making out, but she suspected that it was because he was nervous. 

 

“I love her too, you know,” Lilly responded. “I can’t imagine living without her. She’s part of me. Part of us. We are a team. No, that’s wrong…”

 

“We’re family,” Logan finished. 

 

They lapsed into silence.

 

Logan could feel Lilly swallow, could feel the deep breath she took as she prepared to speak again. “Platonic or romantic?” She asked.

 

“Romantic?” he responded. 

 

“Me too, I think.”

 

Logan listened to Lilly as her breathing evened out. Her breathing slowed and he thought she’d fallen asleep when she spoke.

 

“What are you gonna do about it? Cos if I act first, she’ll freak out…”

 

Logan shook his head. He knew that Lilly couldn’t see the response, and was almost asleep anyway. But it was the truth. He didn’t know what to do about it, how to proceed. He didn’t have anyone to ask about it, it was a unique situation. No one he knew was in this sort of relationship. Not that he knew what his relationship was. 

 

***********

 

The first time Logan and Veronica kissed was on a morning jog. The snow had started falling, and they were both unused to the weather, unused to the snow and the ice on the pavement. Unused to the layers they needed to wear. The first snow of the year had fallen the night before. The world was crisp and bright, and slippery. They’d made it to the closest park, giggling as they warmed up and realised how overdressed they were. Giggling at the way their breath fogged up the air. Their cheeks were flushed in the cold, and their eyes somehow brighter, sparkling with the snow. They had stopped, falling together as they leant on a railing overlooking a pond. Giggling as they leaned closer together. 

 

Logan realised just how close they were when he turned to Veronica and could see the flecks of colour in her irises. _So beautiful_ , he thought. Before he knew it, he was leaning towards her. Leaning towards her lips, tilting his head slowly so he didn’t spook her. As he leaned in, he saw her lean towards him. Her pupils widened as their heads got closer together, and he felt fireworks go off as their lips touched. 

 

Veronica felt electric and energised, confused and excited. Logan’s kiss was hesitant, barely brushing her lips, making her want more. She felt him begin to pull away, and reached up, wrapping her hands into his hair and pulling him back towards her. Her kiss was hungry, needy, passionate. It contained all the built up emotion from the last year. The fantasies, daydreams and wishes that Veronica had been ignoring for a year, telling herself over and over that Logan was Lilly’s boyfriend, that he didn’t feel that way - the way that she felt about him, the way she felt about Lilly. She finally pulled away, breathless, leaving their lips raw and swollen, immediately missing the feel of his lips on hers, of his hands on her back, curling into her hair. 

 

“Logan… Lilly…” she breathed, breathless and suddenly unsure.

 

“Loves you too, V. We both love you.”

 

Veronica was, for once, speechless. She pulled away from Logan. “Lets just finish our jog, okay?”

 

Logan felt the loss of her body, her touch acutely. He sighed as he followed her footsteps, catching up to her and matching her pace. They jogged silently side by side as they completed their circuit. Returning to the apartment building, Logan was surprised to feel Veronica take his hand.

 

“I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know what this means I don’t know how to….” she gestured wildly with her free hand, as if that would help her explain herself, help her find the right words. “… how to, unpack how I feel. The last boy I dated died in a fire. We never broke up. I feel like I’m cheating, even though he isn’t here. I, I…”

 

“I know,” Logan interrupted. “I don’t know either, Lilly doesn’t know. It’s uncharted, unknown. But, we’ll get through it.”

 

Pulling Veronica to face him, he leans down, presses her forehead to his. “I think we’ve been building up to this for a while now, V. It feels right. Lilly thinks it’s right. We’ll figure it out together.” 

 

He sighs, stepping back. “You need to get ready for class. Let’s go inside.”

 

Walking into the building, he realises he’s still holding her hand. It feels so right, so natural to him. He feels giddy with happiness, with the possibilities he can see.

 

As Veronica headed off to shower and get ready for class, Logan found Lilly siting at the kitchen counter. 

 

“I kissed her, Lil,” he said excitedly. “I kissed her, and she kissed me back!”

 

“Oh Logan, that’s awesome!” Lilly replied.

 

“I know, right?!” Logan leaned down and firmly kissed Lilly. His happiness was contagious, and Lilly was laughing as the pulled apart.

 

“Was it amazing?”

 

“Yep. Fireworks.”

 

Standing in the shower, Veronica can’t stop grinning. Logan had kissed her! For real, sober, mind blowingly good kissing. She’d always enjoyed making out with Duncan but this… This was like having home made tortillas after years of eating store bought. Store bought were good, but they paled in comparison to the real thing. 

 

Veronica walks through her day in a haze. She is physically at all her classes, but not really there. Her mind keeps wandering back to Logan, to the kiss. To what he had said. But it kept coming back to the kiss. She’d _kissed_ Logan. Logan had _kissed_ her. Her best friend’s boyfriend. Her ex boyfriend’s best friend. 

 

It was a night of late classes, but Veronica didn’t think she’d be able to concentrate for them. Without thinking about it, she finds herself at Grand Central, getting on a train to Ithaca. She calls Mac from the train, explaining she’s coming to visit. Mac didn’t push the point. She’d gotten to know Veronica well over the last year, and could recognise that her friend just needed processing time. Veronica would share when she was ready.

 

It takes Veronica two days to tell Mac what happened. Two days of Mac keeping silent and letting Veronica work through her issues, her demons. She tells Mac about the kiss, about her fears and the implications. About her feelings. About her guilt at betraying Duncan, at hurting Lilly. Veronica realises that she has run away. Mac agrees, but tells her to stay as long as she wants. Veronica considers taking her up on the offer, but instead heads back to the city. She can’t miss Friday night dinner. That time is sacred, is family time. She misses her family. 

 

Logan and Lilly don’t question Veronica about her absence. They don’t bring up the kiss, but the make sure that she is included in the physical part of their relationship. Every time they get up, they pass Veronica, trailing their hand along her shoulders, touching her arm. They sit with her in the middle. Enveloping her, showing her through actions that they love her. In her absence, the pair talked and know that Veronica will need time. They’ll let her wait, move at her pace. 

 

As the snowfall gets heavier, Logan finds himself longing for the beach. He is looking forward to the Christmas break, to seeing the sun in California again. He insists on booking tickets for all of the Neptune teens to return home for Christmas. They fill the first class cabin of their flight. Coordinating their schedules, the eight of them had ten days to spend in Neptune. Christmas and New Years, a day either side. 

 

Going back, Lilly expected it to have all changed. She was surprised to find that it was the same. Driving, she knew exactly where to go, when to turn. The beach was familiar and she was surrounded by the same people. Christmas dinner was held on Christmas Eve, a weird conglomeration of traditions that was becoming _theirs,_ becoming the Mars family Christmas. They extended the participants, to include Dick and Mac and her family, Meg and her sisters, Wallace and his family, Weevil and his. Private family celebrations would still happen on Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve was dedicated to this strange, extended family they had all formed.

 

At the end of the night, having consumed more food than she thought was humanly possible, Veronica looked across at her friends. She still didn’t know what was between Logan, Lilly, and herself, but she was happy. They were happy. Her cheeks flamed as she thought about the kiss they had shared. Thankful she was sitting in the darkened garden of the destroyed houses, no one saw her cheeks. Lilly and Logan had been far more physical with her over the last few weeks. Like they were staking their claim on her. Touching, caressing, guiding her. Nothing overtly sexual, and yet all of it was incredibly sensual. 


	8. College - Freshman Year Part Two

A few weeks after Christmas, Lilly flounced into the tattoo parlour. She had become a regular visitor, stopping in on her way to and from class. Lucas shakes his head in response. There are a few customers in the shop, but he and Weevil are free.

 

“Have you met the Aussies down the street?” she asked without a preamble.

 

“Chica, we live in New York. It’s full of Aussies. You’re gonna need to be more specific,” Weevil responded with a laugh. He still wasn’t used to Lilly’s habit of starting a conversation half way through, assuming that the other person knew what she was talking about.

 

“The Aussies. In the coffee shop. Down the street? Bluestone Lane? Oh man, you _haaaavvvvvve_ to go there. They do this coffee, it’s called a flat white. Changed my world. Seriously. I would marry that coffee if I could.”

 

“Oh, those Aussies. Yep, we’ve met them.”

 

“The coffee’s pretty good, too,” added Lucas. “The owner came in a few days ago. He wants to add to his ink. Cool guy. I’ve been in the last few mornings to get my coffee there. Better than the shit you get at Starbucks. Worth every penny.”

 

“Lucas, have you met the cute barista?” Lilly asked, turning away from Weevil. She had a plan for her Mexican friend. In one drunken night back in Neptune, he’d described his perfect girl. Lilly had laughed with him when he told her. He had described herself or Veronica, except with piercings and ink. “Blonde, pixie cut, amazing floral sleeve? Smile that could drop, well, anyone’s pants really?”

 

“Yep. Bit young for me, though, don’t you reckon?”

 

“Yeah, but not for someone else that we know,” inclining her head meaningfully.

 

“Hmmmm…. Perhaps morning coffee runs should be part of the apprenticeship?” Lucas responded conspiratorially. 

 

**********

 

It takes until spring break comes for them to finally talk. The conversation was inevitable, necessary.

 

Veronica initiates the conversation, much to the surprise of Lilly and Logan. As usual, she is blunt, getting directly to the point. Lilly has always loved this about her. Even before the fire, before sassy Veronica came out she would see hints of the girl that Veronica could be. The Veronica that asked direct questions, then blushed and retracted them. 

 

With no classes for the week, they were at home by themselves. They had discussed travelling somewhere, or inviting themselves up to Ithaca, but in the end decided that a week at home with no pressing social commitments was what they wanted. They’d been watching an old movie. Somehow, Logan had started a tradition of them watching old Hollywood classics together. 

 

Today, the movie of choice was _Brigadoon_. The accents were terrible, but the dancing was pretty, and it was hard to go wrong with Gene Kelly. Lilly was nestled into Veronica’s side, and Logan sat watching the two girls as much as he was watching the film. He could see the tension Veronica was holding in. Her eyes were on the screen, but he could see that her mind was elsewhere. They’d all made friends during their time in New York. New people, people that didn’t know their baggage, their history. People who didn’t know of their losses. His friends had commented on Veronica, on how hard it was to read her, how… not closed… but, prickly she was. One of his friends had told him “y’know, I meet people, and I visualise them. Not their aura but something like it. Calm people, they’re all smooth surfaces and pastel colours. But Veronica, it’s like she’s a sea anemone. She’s got all these sharp angles. Spiky. Not unapproachable, just… it’s like she’s protecting herself from the world? Like there are these parts of her that she is hiding under snark and spikiness, under an unreadable mask.” Logan had smiled and nodded, but knew it wasn’t true. She was one of the most genuine caring people he’d ever encountered, and found her incredibly easy to read. He watched her face as her thoughts flitted across it. The way she was twitching, he knew that she’d eventually spit it out, probably just at the climax of the movie. But then it would be out there. 

 

True to form, just as the mists part and the magical town reappears ( _two fucking days. It’s only been two fucking days and the town already seems batshit,_ Logan can’t help but think) Veronica clears her throat, completes here idea and train of thought. Starts talking.

 

“So, what are we doing? You two are my best friends, my family, and I love you both. And I think I’m in love with you both. I don’t think I can deal with losing either of you, but this is probably the only point in my life that I will be able to walk away. If it isn’t what I think this is, if I stay any longer I won’t be able to walk away. And I can’t go through the heart break of it. I had you two to put me back together last time. I won’t have anyone if I walk away. Or if I stay and you leave me later.” She takes a deep, shuddering breath. As she spoke, she moved off the couch, settling onto the floor, her knees pulled up, and her face tucked into them. The last few sentences barely audible through her legs.

 

Logan looks at Lilly, silently asking _me or you first?_ Seeing the hesitation in Lilly’s eyes, he knows the answer. _Me._

 

“V, don’t walk away. You can’t walk away. We’ll break if you do. I’ll break if you do. I don’t think I’m in love with you, I know it. I am in love with you, Miss Veronica Mars.

 

“I don’t know what this is. I don’t have a label for it. I know that I am in love with Lilly, too. I love both of you. Simultaneously. Equally, unquestioningly.”

 

Veronica hears the words, and turns her head so her ear is resting on her knees, her face visible and facing towards Lilly sitting on the couch. 

 

They’ve missed the ending, the big reveal, the kiss and the fade to credits, but this is better. This is needed. 

 

Lilly doesn’t know what to say that Logan hasn’t already, so she keeps it simple.

 

“I love you, I love Logan. I’m in love with you, I’m in love with Logan.” She shrugs, knowing that despite what else comes out of the conversation, that is is. There is nothing more important than the fact that they are in love. That the group of them is in love. It isn’t a popularity contest, it isn’t one upmanship. No one is vying for more attention, more love, more anything than anyone else. They are just the three of them, nothing more nothing less.

 

“I mean,” Logan starts, seeing that Lilly has said her piece, “I could wax lyrical about our relationship. I could say that it is epic, spanning years and continents. Ships launched in our honour, tears and bloodshed. EPIC. But they would just be words. I don’t want the epic, story book romance. I don’t want to be picking up the pieces of our failed relationships across the continents. I just want... the two of you. I want to be able to wake up for the rest of my life with the two of you. I want to be able to come home knowing that you are there, that you love me. Know that I love you both. This isn’t a movie, it’s real life. It’s going to be hard and messy and awkward and above all, real. It’s going to be family wrangling and friend herding and society… well, I don’t have a word for what society is gonna do, but I know it’s going to be something. I…” he fades out, looking at Veronica. He sees the blush, and the grin. The ‘not epic’ direction was clearly the right one to take. 

 

Veronica drops the conversation for the night, but it comes back in fragments and bits throughout the week. They set ground rules, expectations of how this might, could, will work. Not because they want rigidity in the relationship, but because they recognise the inherent difficulties with a relationship of three people. The balancing act of my desire/your desire becomes larger. There are two other egos to watch over, not one. Two other hearts to break.

 

They decide that they should date: individually and as a group. They decide money really isn’t an issue. After two and a half years, Logan and Lilly have finally gotten Veronica on board with the idea that money is no longer a problem she has to consider. Their money is her money. They decide that only their family and close friends, those people that they consider to be family, need to know about their relationship. They decide that if Veronica is going to go into law, hey need to be very careful about their relationship and the ramifications it may have on her chosen career path. Logan and Lilly are both looking at career paths in less formal industries, and have more social freedoms because of it. They decided that this is stupid, but will follow it anyway. They decide that they do want a physical relationship, both as couples, and as a trio, but will allow Veronica to set the pace.Losing her virginity will be enough of a step, learning to deal with the physical intimacies of one person is enough to worry about without having a second person on the mind. They decide to find a good lawyer to draw up very specific wills, power of attorney documents, and financial power of attorney documents. They decide they will all register as organ donors, and they will find somewhere to donate blood regularly. They decide that the idea of children is a good one, but they don’t take it any further. They don’t talk about marriage. They confirm that Friday night dinner is sacred. They decided that Logan can continue to cook, because neither Lilly or Veronica are any good at it. They decide that the rest of the housework should be divided between them. They decide that they don’t need a car in New York. They decide to do one thing a month that terrifies one of them. 

 

Dating begins slowly for them. They find that they all have different experiences they want to share. They begin to fall into a rhythm. They don’t go on a date every night of the week, but they each go on at least one date per week. Lilly introduces Veronica to the beauty of the ballet, Logan introduces her to the wonders of the symphony. Veronica takes Logan to the baseball, and Lilly to the burlesque. Lilly takes Logan to video game and comic conventions, and Logan takes Lilly to art galleries and museums. Logan and Lilly go bowling. It seems like an odd choice, but it gives both of them some of their lost childhoods. The three of them go to fancy dinners and to the roller derby. 

 

They continue to see Weevil for Friday night dinner at least once a fortnight. Weevil is the first person they tell, and all he has to say is ‘about bloody time.’ 

 

They take Weevil with them to karaoke, because the thought of singing in front of a group of people terrifies Veronica. Despite her fears, she also discovers that she is good at it. That she loves to sing, and loves the adrenaline rush of being on stage in front of an audience. She finds herself being asked to join a cover band as the lead singer, and surprises herself when she says yes. They begin to play gigs across New York, and Veronica finds herself juggling another activity in her schedule. She becomes good friends with the guitarist, Stosh Piznarski. Everyone calls him Piz, and Veronica’s five year old brain giggles each time she hears it. Piz falls for her, and she discovers that she has to let him down gently and firmly. She’s never had to break up with someone before, and finds the experience unsettling. If gigs are booked for Friday nights, they cannot go on earlier than 10pm, but 11 is better. The band begins to make a name for itself, and it makes it easier to book the later time slots. Lilly and Logan are at every one of her shows. They send videos to Keith, and he insists that he will have to visit New York to see for himself, his daughter on stage singing.

 

Veronica’s new found passion for singing and the rising popularity of the band means that she starts to experience another one of her fears more frequently. She finds herself being photographed, not just by the battalion of camera phones at every gig, in every person’s pocket, but also by newspapers, bloggers, websites. As the lead singer, she is the face of the band, and cannot escape the attention.

 

For Logan, they push his fear of heights. They visit cathedrals and walk up the stairs to the top of their bell towers and spires. They go rock climbing. They visit iconic New York buildings and spend hours on their viewing platforms - the Empire State Building, the Rockerfella Centre, the statue of Liberty. They go on helicopter rides over the city.

 

For Lilly, they tackle public speaking. She starts a youtube channel, and begins to talk to a camera. She becomes a guide through the NYU’s art gallery, a large and varied collection that seems to attract hundreds of people every day. She finds that she loves educating people, that she loves sharing the knowledge of the art and the stories behind the paintings. She loves seeing that moment when a member of her tour group sees an artwork that just speaks to them. 

 

They stay in New York for the summer. Keith flies out to meet them, and they spend two weeks showing him their New York. They pay for Wallace to go home to Neptune for the summer, and for Meg’s sister to come visit her. Weevil flies back to Neptune for a week, rides his bike back across the country. Dick and Mac spend the summer in Europe, and no one is surprised when the come back engaged. Mac had finally admitted to him that she was behind the purity tests, and that was how she came to drive her shiny green beetle. She apologised, knowing that the purity test had caused a rift between himself and Madison, a rift that led to their relationship ending. Rather than being upset, it was the catalyst Dick needed to propose. He told her later that he had a romantic dinner all planned for her, but it just felt right in the moment.

 

Telling Keith about their relationship is harder than any of them expected. Keith is surprised it took them this long to realise that was what their relationship was. He had been reading the signs since the start of their senior year. Since Lilly woke up, if he was being completely honest. So he listens to them tell him about it. He nods, allowing them to speak before asking questions that they don’t have answers to. He asks about the legality of it, about the public face of it, about hospitals and if there is a ‘first.’ He asks about marriage and the power dynamic. If they are willing to lie or hide in public. About children and a hundred other things. He asks all the difficult questions, the ones that they know they have to face and can’t quite deal with yet. They know he is asking out of love, but they still feel like they have been hit with a battering ram when he is done. 

 

When Keith goes back to Neptune, they leave New York for a week. Logan rents a car, and they drive around New England. They spend three days in little coastal towns, and Logan surfs every chance he gets. It makes him seem younger and freer, and Veronica loves to see that part of him. Not the part that has a hero complex, but the teenager that he still is. Logan and Veronica go for a jog each morning, and he isn’t the relaxed teenager, but he isn’t a cynical adult either. They spend their days sightseeing, Lilly dragging them into these tiny stores, laughing with them. Encouraging the playful side of their introspective personalities. And each evening they fall into bed together exhausted. 

 

They don’t talk about their relationship on the trip. They spend a week just letting it _be._ They know it is an avoidance tactic, but they also enjoy the freedom it gives them.

 

They tell the rest of their People - Dick, Mac, Wallace, Meg - about their relationship over the next few months.

 

“Finally,” Dick had replied. “It’s taken y’all long enough. Congrats on LoVeLi becoming an official like thing.”

 

Dick just laughed at their confused looks. “It’s too long to say all your names all the time. Seriously, couldn’t at least one of you have had a nice, short, single syllable name? Me and Mac have it just right. So, to make things easier, I think of you guys as LoVeLi. L-o-V-e-L-i. Y’know Lo for Logan, Ve for Veronica, Li for Lilly. Much easier.” 


	9. College Freshman Year Part Two

A few weeks after Christmas, Lilly flounced into the tattoo parlour. She had become a regular visitor, stopping in on her way to and from class. Lucas shakes his head in response. There are a few customers in the shop, but he and Weevil are free.

 

“Have you met the Aussies down the street?” she asked without a preamble.

 

“Chica, we live in New York. It’s full of Aussies. You’re gonna need to be more specific,” Weevil responded with a laugh. He still wasn’t used to Lilly’s habit of starting a conversation half way through, assuming that the other person knew what she was talking about.

 

“The Aussies. In the coffee shop. Down the street? Bluestone Lane? Oh man, you _haaaavvvvvve_ to go there. They do this coffee, it’s called a flat white. Changed my world. Seriously. I would marry that coffee if I could.”

 

“Oh, those Aussies. Yep, we’ve met them.”

 

“The coffee’s pretty good, too,” added Lucas. “The owner came in a few days ago. He wants to add to his ink. Cool guy. I’ve been in the last few mornings to get my coffee there. Better than the shit you get at Starbucks. Worth every penny.”

 

“Lucas, have you met the cute barista?” Lilly asked, turning away from Weevil. She had a plan for her Mexican friend. In one drunken night back in Neptune, he’d described his perfect girl. Lilly had laughed with him when he told her. He had described herself or Veronica, except with piercings and ink. “Blonde, pixie cut, amazing floral sleeve? Smile that could drop, well, anyone’s pants really?”

 

“Yep. Bit young for me, though, don’t you reckon?”

 

“Yeah, but not for someone else that we know,” inclining her head meaningfully.

 

“Hmmmm…. Perhaps morning coffee runs should be part of the apprenticeship?” Lucas responded conspiratorially. 

 

**********

 

It takes until spring break comes for them to finally talk. The conversation was inevitable, necessary.

 

Veronica initiates the conversation, much to the surprise of Lilly and Logan. As usual, she is blunt, getting directly to the point. Lilly has always loved this about her. Even before the fire, before sassy Veronica came out she would see hints of the girl that Veronica could be. The Veronica that asked direct questions, then blushed and retracted them. 

 

With no classes for the week, they were at home by themselves. They had discussed travelling somewhere, or inviting themselves up to Ithaca, but in the end decided that a week at home with no pressing social commitments was what they wanted. They’d been watching an old movie. Somehow, Logan had started a tradition of them watching old Hollywood classics together. 

 

Today, the movie of choice was _Brigadoon_. The accents were terrible, but the dancing was pretty, and it was hard to go wrong with Gene Kelly. Lilly was nestled into Veronica’s side, and Logan sat watching the two girls as much as he was watching the film. He could see the tension Veronica was holding in. Her eyes were on the screen, but he could see that her mind was elsewhere. They’d all made friends during their time in New York. New people, people that didn’t know their baggage, their history. People who didn’t know of their losses. His friends had commented on Veronica, on how hard it was to read her, how… not closed… but, prickly she was. One of his friends had told him “y’know, I meet people, and I visualise them. Not their aura but something like it. Calm people, they’re all smooth surfaces and pastel colours. But Veronica, it’s like she’s a sea anemone. She’s got all these sharp angles. Spiky. Not unapproachable, just… it’s like she’s protecting herself from the world? Like there are these parts of her that she is hiding under snark and spikiness, under an unreadable mask.” Logan had smiled and nodded, but knew it wasn’t true. She was one of the most genuine caring people he’d ever encountered, and found her incredibly easy to read. He watched her face as her thoughts flitted across it. The way she was twitching, he knew that she’d eventually spit it out, probably just at the climax of the movie. But then it would be out there. 

 

True to form, just as the mists part and the magical town reappears ( _two fucking days. It’s only been two fucking days and the town already seems batshit,_ Logan can’t help but think) Veronica clears her throat, completes here idea and train of thought. Starts talking.

 

“So, what are we doing? You two are my best friends, my family, and I love you both. And I think I’m in love with you both. I don’t think I can deal with losing either of you, but this is probably the only point in my life that I will be able to walk away. If it isn’t what I think this is, if I stay any longer I won’t be able to walk away. And I can’t go through the heart break of it. I had you two to put me back together last time. I won’t have anyone if I walk away. Or if I stay and you leave me later.” She takes a deep, shuddering breath. As she spoke, she moved off the couch, settling onto the floor, her knees pulled up, and her face tucked into them. The last few sentences barely audible through her legs.

 

Logan looks at Lilly, silently asking _me or you first?_ Seeing the hesitation in Lilly’s eyes, he knows the answer. _Me._

 

“V, don’t walk away. You can’t walk away. We’ll break if you do. I’ll break if you do. I don’t think I’m in love with you, I know it. I am in love with you, Miss Veronica Mars.

 

“I don’t know what this is. I don’t have a label for it. I know that I am in love with Lilly, too. I love both of you. Simultaneously. Equally, unquestioningly.”

 

Veronica hears the words, and turns her head so her ear is resting on her knees, her face visible and facing towards Lilly sitting on the couch. 

 

They’ve missed the ending, the big reveal, the kiss and the fade to credits, but this is better. This is needed. 

 

Lilly doesn’t know what to say that Logan hasn’t already, so she keeps it simple.

 

“I love you, I love Logan. I’m in love with you, I’m in love with Logan.” She shrugs, knowing that despite what else comes out of the conversation, that is is. There is nothing more important than the fact that they are in love. That the group of them is in love. It isn’t a popularity contest, it isn’t one upmanship. No one is vying for more attention, more love, more anything than anyone else. They are just the three of them, nothing more nothing less.

 

“I mean,” Logan starts, seeing that Lilly has said her piece, “I could wax lyrical about our relationship. I could say that it is epic, spanning years and continents. Ships launched in our honour, tears and bloodshed. EPIC. But they would just be words. I don’t want the epic, story book romance. I don’t want to be picking up the pieces of our failed relationships across the continents. I just want... the two of you. I want to be able to wake up for the rest of my life with the two of you. I want to be able to come home knowing that you are there, that you love me. Know that I love you both. This isn’t a movie, it’s real life. It’s going to be hard and messy and awkward and above all, real. It’s going to be family wrangling and friend herding and society… well, I don’t have a word for what society is gonna do, but I know it’s going to be something. I…” he fades out, looking at Veronica. He sees the blush, and the grin. The ‘not epic’ direction was clearly the right one to take. 

 

Veronica drops the conversation for the night, but it comes back in fragments and bits throughout the week. They set ground rules, expectations of how this might, could, will work. Not because they want rigidity in the relationship, but because they recognise the inherent difficulties with a relationship of three people. The balancing act of my desire/your desire becomes larger. There are two other egos to watch over, not one. Two other hearts to break.

 

They decide that they should date: individually and as a group. They decide money really isn’t an issue. After two and a half years, Logan and Lilly have finally gotten Veronica on board with the idea that money is no longer a problem she has to consider. Their money is her money. They decide that only their family and close friends, those people that they consider to be family, need to know about their relationship. They decide that if Veronica is going to go into law, hey need to be very careful about their relationship and the ramifications it may have on her chosen career path. Logan and Lilly are both looking at career paths in less formal industries, and have more social freedoms because of it. They decided that this is stupid, but will follow it anyway. They decide that they do want a physical relationship, both as couples, and as a trio, but will allow Veronica to set the pace.Losing her virginity will be enough of a step, learning to deal with the physical intimacies of one person is enough to worry about without having a second person on the mind. They decide to find a good lawyer to draw up very specific wills, power of attorney documents, and financial power of attorney documents. They decide they will all register as organ donors, and they will find somewhere to donate blood regularly. They decide that the idea of children is a good one, but they don’t take it any further. They don’t talk about marriage. They confirm that Friday night dinner is sacred. They decided that Logan can continue to cook, because neither Lilly or Veronica are any good at it. They decide that the rest of the housework should be divided between them. They decide that they don’t need a car in New York. They decide to do one thing a month that terrifies one of them. 

 

Dating begins slowly for them. They find that they all have different experiences they want to share. They begin to fall into a rhythm. They don’t go on a date every night of the week, but they each go on at least one date per week. Lilly introduces Veronica to the beauty of the ballet, Logan introduces her to the wonders of the symphony. Veronica takes Logan to the baseball, and Lilly to the burlesque. Lilly takes Logan to video game and comic conventions, and Logan takes Lilly to art galleries and museums. Logan and Lilly go bowling. It seems like an odd choice, but it gives both of them some of their lost childhoods. The three of them go to fancy dinners and to the roller derby. 

 

They continue to see Weevil for Friday night dinner at least once a fortnight. Weevil is the first person they tell, and all he has to say is ‘about bloody time.’ 

 

They take Weevil with them to karaoke, because the thought of singing in front of a group of people terrifies Veronica. Despite her fears, she also discovers that she is good at it. That she loves to sing, and loves the adrenaline rush of being on stage in front of an audience. She finds herself being asked to join a cover band as the lead singer, and surprises herself when she says yes. They begin to play gigs across New York, and Veronica finds herself juggling another activity in her schedule. She becomes good friends with the guitarist, Stosh Piznarski. Everyone calls him Piz, and Veronica’s five year old brain giggles each time she hears it. Piz falls for her, and she discovers that she has to let him down gently and firmly. She’s never had to break up with someone before, and finds the experience unsettling. If gigs are booked for Friday nights, they cannot go on earlier than 10pm, but 11 is better. The band begins to make a name for itself, and it makes it easier to book the later time slots. Lilly and Logan are at every one of her shows. They send videos to Keith, and he insists that he will have to visit New York to see for himself, his daughter on stage singing.

 

Veronica’s new found passion for singing and the rising popularity of the band means that she starts to experience another one of her fears more frequently. She finds herself being photographed, not just by the battalion of camera phones at every gig, in every person’s pocket, but also by newspapers, bloggers, websites. As the lead singer, she is the face of the band, and cannot escape the attention.

 

For Logan, they push his fear of heights. They visit cathedrals and walk up the stairs to the top of their bell towers and spires. They go rock climbing. They visit iconic New York buildings and spend hours on their viewing platforms - the Empire State Building, the Rockerfella Centre, the statue of Liberty. They go on helicopter rides over the city.

 

For Lilly, they tackle public speaking. She starts a youtube channel, and begins to talk to a camera. She becomes a guide through the NYU’s art gallery, a large and varied collection that seems to attract hundreds of people every day. She finds that she loves educating people, that she loves sharing the knowledge of the art and the stories behind the paintings. She loves seeing that moment when a member of her tour group sees an artwork that just speaks to them. 

 

They stay in New York for the summer. Keith flies out to meet them, and they spend two weeks showing him their New York. They pay for Wallace to go home to Neptune for the summer, and for Meg’s sister to come visit her. Weevil flies back to Neptune for a week, rides his bike back across the country. Dick and Mac spend the summer in Europe, and no one is surprised when the come back engaged. Mac had finally admitted to him that she was behind the purity tests, and that was how she came to drive her shiny green beetle. She apologised, knowing that the purity test had caused a rift between himself and Madison, a rift that led to their relationship ending. Rather than being upset, it was the catalyst Dick needed to propose. He told her later that he had a romantic dinner all planned for her, but it just felt right in the moment.

 

Telling Keith about their relationship is harder than any of them expected. Keith is surprised it took them this long to realise that was what their relationship was. He had been reading the signs since the start of their senior year. Since Lilly woke up, if he was being completely honest. So he listens to them tell him about it. He nods, allowing them to speak before asking questions that they don’t have answers to. He asks about the legality of it, about the public face of it, about hospitals and if there is a ‘first.’ He asks about marriage and the power dynamic. If they are willing to lie or hide in public. About children and a hundred other things. He asks all the difficult questions, the ones that they know they have to face and can’t quite deal with yet. They know he is asking out of love, but they still feel like they have been hit with a battering ram when he is done. 

 

When Keith goes back to Neptune, they leave New York for a week. Logan rents a car, and they drive around New England. They spend three days in little coastal towns, and Logan surfs every chance he gets. It makes him seem younger and freer, and Veronica loves to see that part of him. Not the part that has a hero complex, but the teenager that he still is. Logan and Veronica go for a jog each morning, and he isn’t the relaxed teenager, but he isn’t a cynical adult either. They spend their days sightseeing, Lilly dragging them into these tiny stores, laughing with them. Encouraging the playful side of their introspective personalities. And each evening they fall into bed together exhausted. 

 

They don’t talk about their relationship on the trip. They spend a week just letting it _be._ They know it is an avoidance tactic, but they also enjoy the freedom it gives them.

 

They tell the rest of their People - Dick, Mac, Wallace, Meg - about their relationship over the next few months.

 

“Finally,” Dick had replied. “It’s taken y’all long enough. Congrats on LoVeLi becoming an official like thing.”

 

Dick just laughed at their confused looks. “It’s too long to say all your names all the time. Seriously, couldn’t at least one of you have had a nice, short, single syllable name? Me and Mac have it just right. So, to make things easier, I think of you guys as LoVeLi. L-o-V-e-L-i. Y’know Lo for Logan, Ve for Veronica, Li for Lilly. Much easier.” 

 

*********

 

**College - Sophomore Year.**

 

It takes Weevil six months of flirting and banter before the girl in the coffee shop agrees to go out with him. In that time, he bores Lilly, Lucas, Veronica and Logan with details about her. 

 

She makes amazing coffee.

 

She has the sexiest Australian accent.

 

Her name is Ella.

 

She’s working at the coffee shop while she studies at NYU.

 

She’s two years and two months older than he is.

 

Her favourite food is fairy bread. He has no idea what fairy bread is, and researches it online. He forces them to eat fairy bread.

 

She grew up in a small country town outside of Canberra. Murrumbateman.

 

Canberra is the land locked capital of Australia.

 

Her parents own a vineyard.

 

She has three younger sisters and four younger brothers.

 

She is left handed.

 

Her right eye is half green, half grey. Her right eye is all green.

 

She hates smokers.

 

She’s Catholic.

 

She got her car license on her sixteenth birthday, a year earlier than kids in Australia normally get it. She was a country kid, and she got a special dispensation. She got her bike license on her seventeenth birthday. She’s been riding dirt bikes since she was seven.

 

She got her first tattoo on her eighteenth birthday. 

 

She got drunk for the first time on her fourteenth birthday.

 

She got her tongue pierced when she graduated high school. Except she calls it college and then corrects herself, using the American word not the Australian word.

 

She loves New York, but hates the snow.

 

Her middle name is Louisa.

 

She speaks fluent French, Spanish, Polish and German. She’s studying to be a translator. 

 

He starts to order his coffee in Spanish, and he thinks she likes the intimacy of it. It’s the second most common language in the US, but not in this part of New York.

 

She won’t tell him her surname, because it’s unpronounceable.

 

She misses plastic money. Plastic notes in more colours than the green of the US currency. Money that you can accidentally leave in the pocket of your jeans when you put them through the wash.

 

She misses having pets, but can't justify getting one in the city. Her apartment isn’t big enough, and she doesn’t think it’s fair to the dog.

 

She loves to walk, and is astounded by Central Park. 

 

She hates broccoli, and hasn’t eaten red meat in five years.

 

Being a barista and being a coffee snob is easier in this city than being a wine snob, because she’s still not allowed to drink here. She was raised drinking good wine from the age of thirteen. A glass with dinner with her parents. She is perplexed by the drinking age of 21, when she was allowed to legally buy alcohol at 18 back home. 

 

She misses the quiet of her parent's vineyard, but loves the bustle and noise of the city.

 

She is two years into her four year degree.

 

Her accent gets stronger when she’s talked to her family recently. 

 

She’s single. She and her boyfriend broke up the day after he started getting coffee at Bluestone Lane.

 

She says yes when he asks her out, and asks why it took him so long.

 

Their first date is a ride into the country. To upstate New York. Weevil hasn’t been, and Ella hasn’t been on a bike since arriving in America. Weevil doesn’t have a specific destination in mind, more the ride and the adventure of not knowing. They end up in an antique store in some tiny town. He sees Ella run her fingers along the big sleigh bed. The thing is a monster, but it’s also beautiful. 

 

“I miss proper furniture,” she says, turning to him. “My grandfather was a carpenter, a wood carver. His father and uncle as well. My dad was an only child, my uncle died young… so we ended up with all the furniture. I hate the crappy impersonal stuff in my dorm. I mean, it’s functional, but things like this,” gesturing around the store, at the bed “they have a soul. The wood is warm and inviting, not cold and dead and unreal like a metal bed frame…”

 

Weevil doesn’t let her finish the thought. He grabs her elbow pulls her towards him, lowering his face to hers, capturing her mouth with his. She tastes like coffee and mint and sunshine, and it’s perfect. 

 

Two days later, he realises he wants to go back to Church. Its been five years since he last set foot in a church, since he last attended service, went to confession or received communion. Five years since his uncle Angel was killed in a drive by shooting, collateral damage for a gang war he wasn’t part of. 

 

Now, though, he wants to go back to Church. He has a reason to rejoin the community. 

 

He takes Veronica, Lilly and Logan with him. None of them are religious. Logan was raised in the church of celebrity, Lilly the cult of money, and Veronica’s family were just plainatheist. But they come with him anyway. Sit quietly and respectfully during the service. The congregation is small, but they stay and chat with the priest after the service. The priest makes sure to welcome to their congregation. He’s young, perhaps in his early thirties, and Weevil is surprised by his youth. 

 

Weevil takes them back the next week. And the week after that. It becomes a routine. Weevil respects that they come with him, but isn’t trying to force his religion on them. They share this part of his life with them. They discover that while they don’t follow the underlying philosophy, the idea and belief in God, they do find the ritual peaceful.

 

********

 

Lilly was at class until late, and Logan had taken Veronica to the symphony. He loved the joy in her face, clearly evident when she got to dress up for these events. Both she and Lilly had a steadily growing collection of ball gowns in their closets, and as they were similarly sized, would often borrow dresses and clothing from the other girl. Veronica had walked out of her room wearing a dress he hadn’t seen before, a deep cobalt strapless dress, ruched and gathered and making her pale skin glow. She’d curled her hair, and had the slightest hint of makeup on.

 

“You look stunning,” he breathed.

 

She had smiled and blushed, and they had held hands all the way to the concert hall. They caught the subway, because he knew she loved the incongruity of wearing such formal, beautiful evening wear and the dinginess of the New York subway system. 

 

The concert was Beethoven and friends, and the featured work wasn’t one of his well known symphonies. Instead, the concert focused on the Seventh Symphony. From the opening chords of the second movement, Veronica had closed her eyes, and just listened. The melancholy, the aching in the music, the beautiful melody, she found herself silently crying as she listened. Logan had looked across, astounded by the girl next to him. She hadn’t ever been to a classical concert before that year, had barely listened to any classical music, and yet here she was, moved to tears.

 

Leaning across, he kissed away her tears. “I love you, Veronica Mars,” he’d whispered in her ear. 

 

He took her to dinner after the concert, thankful that New York was always open. As always, he was amazed to watch her eat, amazed to see the amount of food she was capable of consuming. Thankful she didn’t feel the need to hider her appetite or love of food from him. Logan had discovered that his Black Amex card and a relaxed attitude was sufficient for most of the restaurants around the concert hall to ignore the legal drinking age, and serve them wine with dinner and a glass of port with dessert. He sat back in his chair, watching as Veronica savoured the last of her port, wondering how he was lucky enough to end up with her. What trick of fate had allowed this to happen. 

 

Ever conscious of the little details, Logan had booked a town car to take them home. For Logan, it feels like just another night. He sat comfortably in the back of the car, tracing figure of eights on the back of her hand with his thumb. She was leaning against him, her ear on his chest, and he was sure she could hear the beating of his heart. Turning her head slightly, Logan felt her place a kiss on his chest over his heart. He felt her lips through the thin cotton of his shirt, and was sure that his heart skipped a beat as her kiss connected. 

 

Pushing herself onto her elbows, Logan felt Veronica slowly work her way up his torso, planting kisses on his chest. He instinctively keeps his arms in place, leaving them on her back. Giving her control over the situation. He gasped in shock and anticipation when she placed the first one directly onto his skin. He’d taken off his bow tie and undone his top button when he got in the car, and was now thoroughly glad he had. He felt her move his shirt collar aside, pressing a kiss into the sensitive triangle at the base of his neck. Another on his throat under his chin. One on his jawline, then his ear lobe. His cheek, his closed eyelid, his forehead. His other earlobe. He is panting with lust by the time her lips graze his. Not a full kiss, but a half kiss, her lips touching the corner of his mouth. His breathing catches, and he can't contain himself any longer. He grabs her shoulders, holding her close to him, bring his mouth hungrily to hers. He feels her lips begin to part, and he traces the bottom lip with his tongue, feeling her tongue bump up agains his. As it slips into his mouth, he groans. 

 

He feels the car slow down and stop.

 

He had never been so grateful to arrive at their apartment building. Or so grateful that the car service he uses asks for payment on booking, so he doesn’t have to worry about the practicality of paying for their transportation. They almost fall out of the vehicle, somehow making it into the building. Their lips hungry as they ride the elevator to their floor. He knew that Lilly would be asleep in bed by this stage, knew that they would join her later. First though, he planned on helping Veronica undress.

 

He unlocked their front door and guided her to her bedroom. 

 

They’d decided that there wouldn’t be sex as couples in the main bed. Not because they were worried about jealousy, but the simple logistics of it. In the bedrooms, they wouldn’t be disturbing anyone, or excluding anyone. The main bed was for sleep, and when the got to it, the joys of sex as a group. 

 

Logan feels the hunger and passion in Veronica’s kisses, and matches it with his own. She is the girl he’s loved since he was twelve, the girl that has stared in his masturbatory fantasies and the girl that has shared her bed with him for the past 3 years. 

 

He runs his hands along her body, finding the zip of her dress. He doesn’t want to rush things, and much as he wants to be inside her already, he wants this to be good for her even more. Never breaking their kiss, he slides the zipper down, lets her dress puddle at her feet. 

 

He lifts her petite body up, stepping over the dress and placing her reverently on the bed. Stepping back, he toes off his shoes and drops his jacket on the floor. He undoes his belt, and the top button on his pants to relieve some of the pressure he’s feeling, all the while sweeping her body with his eyes. She’s dressed in a deep blue strapless bra, matching underwear, and the sinful heels that the dress required. He takes in her face, the look of desire and apprehension in her eyes and smiles. Crouching at her feet, he slowly undoes the shoes, carefully lifting her feet out. One day, he’ll ask her to keep them on, but tonight he’ll take them off. With her feet free, he slowly begins to kiss his way up her legs. Her knees fall apart, and he can see the tell tale darkening of her underwear, giving away her arousal if the look in her eyes and the smell in the room hadn’t already. 

 

As he kisses slowly up her legs, he blows on each kiss, cooling the skin and watching her shiver in anticipation. He gently kisses the inside of her thigh, just below her panty line and feels her breath catch.

 

Moving himself up the bed, he kisses her stomach, gently stroking her bra cups and seeing her nipples pucker as his fingers pass over them. He kisses above the line of her bra, slowly kissing his way up her chest, along her jaw line and onto her mouth. He lowers his body towards hers, and feels their crotches meet. Carefully, experimentally, he grinds his pelvis towards hers, and is rewarded with a satisfied hum. 

 

Breaking their kiss, he plants a row of kisses along her jaw line, down to her collar bone. Gently, he pulls her upright so he can reach behind her, and unclasps her bra. Holding it in place, he looks in her eyes, a question there that she reads and nods. _Yes,_ her nod says, _you can take that off._

 

Throwing the offending garment onto the floor, he stares at her and she is embarrassed and exhilarated by the naked desire, wanting, the lust in his eyes. She looks at him expectantly, unsure of what to do or how to act. He can see her chest heaving, and is mesmerised by her small and beautiful breasts. Reaching forward, he returns his mouth to hers, gently cupping her breasts in his hands. He lays her down, carefully rubbing his fingers over her erect nipples, feeling her quiver underneath him. 

 

Breaking away from her mouth, he moves his head down her body, taking one nipple, then the other into his mouth. He sucks each, enjoying the way she squirms underneath him. Enjoys the way that her hands have made their way into his hair, clenching with pleasure. He runs his tongue along the sensitive skin on the underside of her breasts, and sees her shiver with pleasure. 

 

He trails his kisses downwards, brushing his fingers over the fabric of her underwear, feeling her buck up to meet his touch. He can feel her eyes on him, but he is more concerned with the smoothness of her skin, the slight taste of salt and the smell of Veronica that is enveloping him. 

 

Gently hooking his fingers into the waistband of her underwear, he eases them down past her hips. He feels her lift her hips to help him, and then the underwear, too, are on the floor, discarded with the rest of her clothing. 

 

He rocks back on his feet, sweeping his eyes across her body, taking in the beauty of her.

 

He wants to tell her how beautiful she is, but doesn’t want to break the bubble that they are in, of silence and passion and lust. Instead, he helps her move further up the bed, partially sitting her up and opening her legs wide. As his body moves closer, she tries to unbutton his shirt, to get her hands into his pants. He shakes his head, whispers _this is about you. I’ll come later._ He isn’t sure she hears him, but she removes her hands, curling them into his hair. 

 

He brushes his fingers over her pubic hair, happy to see she isn’t fully shaved like a pubescent child, turned on by the hair. Running his fingers gently over her skin, barely touching he can see the expectancy in her eyes. He keeps his right hand moving over her mound, moves his left hand lower, into the wet folds. Carefully covering his fingers with her juices, he moves them higher, finally touching her sensitive clit. 

 

She shifts in surprise as she feels his fingers start to rub circles on his clit. His magical magical fingers that are taking her towards the throes of ecstasy. His right hand moves up her body until it is over her breast. He kneads and strokes her breast as he continues to play with her clit. He can see a flush rising over her skin, and the muscles in her stomach beginning to contract. He brings his eyes to hers, stares into them as he plays with her. He knows she is close to orgasm, and renews his efforts. As he circles is fingers faster and faster, he sees everything in her body tighten. Her eyes roll back in her head and she gasps for air as she comes.

 

Smiling, he moves his fingers to his mouth, carefully licking the taste of her off them. Feels his cock twitch in anticipation as her eyes widen. 

 

Watching her breathing slow slightly, he moves further down the bed, kissing and licking the inside of her thighs.

 

“You’re wearing too much,” she says, still out of breath.

 

Obediently, he gets up and strips. His clothes join hers on the floor, and he moves back onto the bed. Back between her legs.

 

He trails his fingers up her moistened lips, then lowers his head and repeats the action with his tongue. He hears the hiss of pleasure, the muttered curses as he begins to lick her already sensitive clit. He knows she won’t last long this time, but wants to taster her as she comes.

 

Her hands have returned to his hair, and he feels her kneading his head, tugging slightly as he continues to lick and suck at her pussy. He plunges his tongue into her waiting vagina, runs it back up to her clit. Carefully, he inserts a finger into her vagina, then two, then three. He knows that he is wide, and wants to make sure that she is as prepared as possible for his entry. 

 

He curls his right hand, and inserts a fourth finger into her. He feels the muscles tense, then she is relaxed. He starts gently, carefully pumping his hand back and fourth, keeping his mouth on her clit. His left hand lays across her stomach, and he increases the speed of the hand inside her as he feels her stomach muscles contract and she comes again. Carefully removing his hand, he slowly kisses his way up her stomach, trying to clean as much of her off his face as possible.

 

He gets to her mouth, and her hands hungrily pull his face to hers, pull his body onto hers and he feels his cock against her wet folds.

 

Breaking their kiss, he reaches into the bedside cabinet, grabbing a condom and rolling it down onto himself.

 

He flips them over, and sits her up. 

 

“You set the pace now.”

 

She is straddling him, her vagina posed above his cock. He feels her grab the base of his cock and slowly guide it into her. He watches and waits as she guides it further and further in, until she has taken his full length and girth inside her. He reaches down, idly starts playing with her clit as she sits there. 

 

Minutes or seconds pass, he doesn't know which, and then she is moving. Slowly at first, then with greater speed. He keeps one hand on her clit, puts the other on her hip to help her establish a rhythm. He knows he isn’t going to last long, but wants to hold out until he has given her at least one more orgasm. He is transfixed by the sight of her breasts bouncing, and then he hears her sigh his name, sees the shudders of her stomach and feels the walls of her vagina tighten around his cock as she comes. He takes his hand away from her clit then, bracing it on the other side of her hips. Speeding her up, ramming himself in and out of her as she rides the tail end of her orgasm. Three thrusts later, he comes, and pulls her down on to of him, carefully pulling out of her before he goes flaccid. Keeping her lying on top of him, he carefully removes the condom, ties it in a knot and throws it in the direction of the night stand.

 

He can fell her heart beating, and the sweat that coats both their bodies. Kissing her gently on the lips, he shifts underneath her. He can feel her breathing start to even out as he picks her up and carries her from the room.

 

“Lets go to bed.”

 

Lilly had head them come home, go into Veronica’s room. She’s happy for her friends, hopes that Veronica enjoys Logan’s talented hands. She drifts between waking and sleep, and smiles when she sees Logan carry a sleepy, satiated Veronica into the main room some time later.

 

Both her friends are naked, and she quickly sheds her clothing to join them.

 

That night marked the day Veronica lost her virginity, and the day that they started sleeping naked, a pile of limbs and breasts and skin.

 

It’s early when Logan wakes up spooning Veronica, who is spooning Lilly. He has his arm over both girls, and is cupping Lilly’s mound. He smiles when he sees that Veronica has her arm over Lilly and her hand of the other girl’s breast.

 

He flicks his fingers over Lilly’s clit, hears the intake of breath.

 

“Not yet Logan,” she whispers, not wanting to wake the sleeping Veronica. “Baby steps. We’ll all be together soon enough.”

 

Logan simply nods, and goes back to sleep, waiting for the alarm to start their day. He smiles as he thinks of last night, and waking up with the two most beautiful blondes on the planet. 

 

Veronica never expected their first time to be so tender. In another life, it would have been different. Needy and rough, focused on self gratification not the other person. She would have been as focused on self gratification as Logan. In another life, she wouldn’t have Lilly to go to, to share her joy with. In another life, she would be feeling shame and regret at the loss of her virginity. But in this world, in this life, none of those what ifs matter. Her first time had been right, and special. Right for her, right for them. Tender and loving. 

 

She didn’t remember how she got to bed that night, just remembers feeling like a puddle as she lay in Logan’s arms. Waking up sandwiched between Logan and Lilly, she felt their skin on hers, felt content and complete.

 

Lilly wanted details from Veronica, after Logan left the next morning. She wanted to be able to gossip with her best friend. The fact they were gossiping about the same boy that took her virginity, the same boy that she was in love with made it somehow… better… in Lilly’s mind. Logan and Lilly had rekindled the sexual element of their relationship months before, and she was desperate for details. She was happy for Veronica, knowing how caring Logan could be. 

 

************

 

Weevil gets himself fully certified, and slowly begins to build a client base. He does the standard work, butterflies on the lower back, dolphins on the ankle, trite and predictable and completely mainstream ways for college girls to rebel against their parents, to pass themselves off as cool and daring and somehow bad. Shop policy is that no tattoo will be done if the person is drunk, and they have a breathalyzer they will pull out to reinforce that point. Weevil laughed the first time he saw Lucas pull it out, but now he is glad of it. Sometimes just the sight of the machine was enough for people to walk away, not mark their skin while drunk. Weevil also tried to talk every girl out of the stereotyped tattoos. Give them other options. Sure, he would do them, they helped pay the bills. But he, along with the other artists in the shop, hates doing them.

 

What he loved was the clients who came in with an idea that he could make real. Something that had meaning, that they’d been thinking about for a long or short while. Something that expressed themselves, their lives. The one off, unique, individual pieces. His style involved colour and smooth lines, shading and careful delicate work. Even in the short time he’d been working, he had begun to develop a reputation and people would come in, asking for him. Lucas was happy, and that made Weevil happy. 

 

Part of the reputation was from the work he’d done on Ella’s arm. He’d designed a grapevine that trailed down and around her arm. She’d told him it was about home to her. Not just the physical place, but the idea of home that revolved around family and community. Her blood family weren’t in New York - it’d been two years since she’d last seen them because New York was expensive and plane tickets to Australia were never going to be cheap. But also the family, the community that she was developing in New York. It was the kind of story that he loved to hear when working on a design, the kind that motivated him to make them better. It had room to fill in other designs later, but for now was the focus of her right arm. Not quite a full sleeve, but would be one day. When customers at the coffee shop ask about it, Ella was quickly sings Eli’s praises and sends potential customers his way. 

 

As a small way of saying thanks, Weevil offered Veronica, Lilly and Logan a tattoo if they wanted. 

 

Lilly politely declined, Logan looked thoughtful, but Veronica takes him up on his offer. He’s not surprised that she’s the one who does. There is a spark to Veronica, a wickedness that Logan and Lilly just don’t have. Not that they are vanilla, just there is a nod towards the other in Veronica that makes her gravitate towards the scandalous, sinful, borderline deviant. Towards fetish and disobedience. Away from the mainstream norms. Her desire to get a tattoo was just one of the markers of that. 

 

Veronica was still aware of her career path. “Nothing visible,” she’d said. 

 

Weevil loved seeing ink proudly displayed, but he also loved the idea of tattoos hiding under the everyday clothing of people. The idea that you could walk past someone in the street, and not know the colours, the secrets, they had hidden on their flesh. It was like women wearing matching underwear sets, wearing garter belts and proper stockings. Little touches that served to create sensual, sexy images. That never failed to turn him on.

 

He’d agreed, and asked what she wanted.

 

“A tree…. A large one. Across my ribs and hips.” She showed him her inspirations pictures, and he started the design. He knew she wasn’t in a hurry, so he took his time. Knowing Veronica the way he did, he was fairly certain this was going to be her only tattoo. He wanted to get it right, for it to be perfect. 

 

When he started working on the tattoo, he had told her that she was going have to be okay being topless around him. The tattoo would skirt the swell of her breast and went deeply down her hip, pushing her underwear down until it was almost exposing her pubic hair. Veronica had assured him it was fine, making one further request.

 

“Can you pierce my nipple as well?” 

 

“You do hide that kink streak well, V,” he scolded, smiling. 

 

With the size that Veronica wanted and the detail Weevil had planned, the tattoo would take four sittings of three hours. 

 

As Veronica stripped for the first sitting, he though about how awkward this could be. Looking at the blonde, he knew that in another life, she would have been exactly his type. 

 

“Ever think about how life could have turned out differently?” he asked as he started to move the tattoo gun over her skin. He felt her stiffen when the needle first touched her skin, then relaxed. He could almost see her brain working, telling herself to relax, to be still while he applied the ink to her skin. 

 

“Sometimes, I guess,” she admitted. “I don’t think it would have been better though. I dunno…” she faded out, concentrating on the feel of the needle running over her skin. “If my dad wasn’t sheriff, I think I might have done my share of law breaking. You know my feelings about authority.” She smirked at this. Weevil knew that she respected some authority. Intelligent authority that had shown it deserved her respect. Her father fit into that category. Other authority figures, like Principal Clemmens, didn’t so much. She’d subtly ignored the rules throughout her time at Neptune High. “I don’t think you and I would be friends. Perhaps acquaintances, but I think any relationship we had would have been based on favours. Logan and you wouldn’t be friends. Logan and I wouldn’t be a thing… We need Lilly in the relationships, we’d be bad by ourselves, all snark and mistrust. Logan is a caregiver, but we’re both too proud to offer care, or to accept it by ourselves. Logan was basically programmed to believe that no one would give him any help… I dunno. Lilly probably would have had a bad girl stage and turned to you, the baddest of the bad at Neptune High.”

 

Weevil laughs at Veronica’s description of him. “You think I’m bad, girl?”

 

“Nah, these days you’re more like a marshmallow.”

 

Weevil continues to work on the ink, methodically and carefully adding to the design. Veronica can feel his hands on her skin, respectful and professional. He still looks like the tough biker he was in high school, and the smoothness of his skin is at odds with the idea of Weevil she holds.

 

“In another life, I may have wanted those hands on my body,” she whispers.

 

“In another life, chica.” Weevil knows there will never be anything between them. He sees the way that his three friends orbit around each other like some invisible string is holding them together, like they feel a force of gravity that no one else does. “When you started dating Kane, I hated him, you know? You were… better… than him, different. I dunno. Do you remember giving me a juice box when we were like twelve? It was the first time I got arrested, and your father gave me a warning. I was sitting in the station, waiting for aubela to pick me up, and you appeared next to me, this tiny blonde girl, fearless and curious. It was grape flavoured, and I drank it even though I hate grape, just because you gave it to me. You were the first white girl to look at me, even in the innocent way you did. The first person from outside my neighbourhood to see me, not the latino, the biker. Something other than what our town would have you believe. You probably started my obsession with tiny blonde girls.You and Lilly, in many ways, you were my type. But you always seemed to have more spunk, even if you were in Lilly’s shadow. So while I ignored Logan and Lilly starting dating, I hated Kane when you two became a thing.”

 

Listening to his words, Veronica doesn’t feel the needles going into her skin. She has never heard Weevil admit any of this, and doubts she will again. She stays quiet, letting him fill the room with his voice.

 

“When the fire went through, you were just so broken. This shell. You saw how Lilly was, but somehow it was worse with you. You missed so much school. I don’t think you’d even missed a day before that, and it made me sad. Before the fire, I used to walk past your classroom, just to see your face. It’d take me miles out of the way, you were always in the smart part of school and I was in autoshop. I missed seeing your face while you were gone. And when you came back, you still looked so broken, and Logan was always there, always with you. I still don’t regret taping Wallace to the flagpole that day. I know it was you who cut him down. I may have blustered and postured at you, but I was just happy to see the spark back in your eyes. I would have gotten my boys off his back without the stuff you pulled for him. And then, with Logan and the stuff with my aubela, suddenly I was part of your world. And I found that I wasn’t… over you, exactly. But I found that I was happy seeing you happy. And Logan and Lilly, they make you happy. So, I let go.

 

“I would hear guys in gym talking shit, complaining about being friend zoned and whatever. It’s bullshit, you know. It just means that someone has made a choice. You have no rights to demand the affections of someone who doesn’t return them. Just because you’re nice, or take someone on a date or whatever, it’s bullshit if you expect something, feelings, in return. The world doesn’t work like that. So, I decided that rather than pining, I’d just be your friend. 

 

“Watching Lilly, it was something that Logan asked me to do, but I would have done it anyway. You were both so worried about her. And the worry made you unhappy. Can’t have an unhappy Mars,” he chuckled.

 

“It took me a while to stop wanting you. And I did sleep with just about every little white girl in Neptune before you guys dragged me over here. What can I say? I have a distinct type. Spunky, blonde, white, short. At first because the boys expected some sort of conquest, and, well, you were off limits. Sixteen year old me would have creamed his pants to see the sight I’ve got at the moment. And then, I found that I liked the girls independently from you. I liked them because they were people, because they had their own stories and quirks. Plus, sex is a great bonus. 

 

“I may have gotten drunk with Lilly during senior year and confessed my type was short blondes. I’m pretty sure that I also added ‘with ink,’ just so I wasn’t describing you two. She introduced me to Ella, y’know. Well, not introduced. Batted her eyelids at Lucas and he forced me to pick him up a coffee every day. Which meant I had to speak to Ella. I don’t even like coffee. I only managed to tell Ella that last week. 

 

“I realised recently that I’m not searching for someone to fit into a Veronica Mars shaped hole any more. You may have been this teen fantasy of mine, but you’re not an adult fantasy. 

 

“I think I want to marry Ella. But it’s too soon. It’s crazy to be talking about it with her already. But, I want to marry her, to find a house to live in together, something with a yard. I want to fill the house with wooden furniture, stuff with a soul. Pets, children. The works. And I don’t know how to do any of that stuff yet. I don’t even know if she wants that stuff.”

 

He leans back, examining his work.

 

“I have you guys to thank for wanting that stuff. For it becoming a possibility, within my reach. Without you, I dunno. Probably be in prison by now. 

 

“Okay, that’s as far as we are going today. I’m just gonna rub some ointment into it to help it heal.” 

 

Veronica listens as he deftly wraps the exposed skin, runs through the care and maintenance of her new tattoo.

 

“I’ll come by tonight and run Lilly and Logan through it too. I know you can do it yourself, but they’ll want to help. To care for you.”

 

He hands her a bottle of ointment, and a piece of paper outlining tattoo care.

 

“Now, you’re gonna have to sit up for the next part. He moves to the bench, grabs a tray.

 

“Tell me which one you want.”

 

She picks cobalt blue, and he grabs their package, placing them on the tray with his other equipment.

 

“You still wanna do this, chica.”

 

She nods, so he continues.

 

“Okay, stand up straight so I can mark the spot.” The felt tip feels weird, as does the cold of the alcohol swab.

 

“Okay, sit back down.” He sits on the rolling chair, pulls himself in between her knees.

 

“This may sting a bit,” he warns as he pushes the needle through her nipple. 

 

“A little? That was fucking unpleasant, Eli,” she says through gritted teeth.

 

“Well, we’re almost done.” He removes the needle, following it with the bar she chose. He screws the ball in place, and tells her to go look in the mirror.

 

“Happy?” he asks, already knowing the answer.

 

“Yep,” she says, smiling.

 

“Good. So, more care instructions.” He hands her another bottle and another piece of paper. “You’re gonna want to keep that clean. Give it a few days before you spin the bar. It’ll take about six weeks to heal. Try not to get it caught on anything during that time. Or have it pulled unnecessarily. It’ll only prolong the healing process. Which means that your left breast is probably off limits from your handsy friends for the next month and a half.” 

 

He tapes a piece of gauze carefully over her nipple. “Normally I’d advise wearing a bra to reduce the chances of it getting knocked, but in this case the tattoo trumps the piercing.” He hands her her shirt. “I have to clean up, then I was thinking of inviting myself back to yours?”

 

“Of course. Someone’s gotta protect me on the big bad subway.”

 

He laughs as he packs up his gear. When the area is neat again, he grabs her bag. “I’ll let Lucas know I’m heading out. He’ll lock up for me.”

 

Veronica is happy they’ve slipped back into the normal routine of their friendship. Between the conversation and the tattoo and piercing, it’s the most intimate moment she’s shared with Weevil. 

 

Veronica visits another three times to get the tattoo finished. After the first time, she’s comfortable removing her clothes in front of Weevil, of pushing pants down as far as they will go without being indecent. Their conversations aren’t as deep after that first session. But it’s created a comfortable intimacy between them that she’s glad of. He’s her big bad biker in shining armour, the guy she didn’t know was ready to protect her at her most vulnerable. 

 

**********

 

Weevil was apprehensive about Ella meeting LoViLi. Not because he was worried they wouldn’t get along, but because of the history they shared. The way he’d grown up in Neptune was so different to her life in Australia.

 

He loved to listen to her talk, and she was fearless with her stories. Fearless hearing about his past, too. He’d started with small things, petty theft and intimidating classmates in Neptune. How Neptune may just be on the hellmouth, no matter what Buffy says. How the sun was ever present in So-Cal.  About his aubela and cousins.

 

He looked at him, and he didn’t see horror or repulsion in his eyes. So he started on the bigger things. That he was in the PCH. The rift between the Fitzpatricks and the PCHers. That he’d been in his first  knife fight at eleven, first arrested at twelve. The bullet that killed his uncle. Taping Wallace to the flag pole. Blackmail. He told her about betting rings and underage drinking.

 

He’d looked up, expecting to see pity or revulsion in her eyes. Instead, he saw acceptance. The things he was telling her, the truths to his life, they weren’t changing how she looked at him. Always at him, never through him.

 

So he told her the big things. The guns and the drugs and the other arrests. Promising his aubela that he’d graduate. The girls he’d slept with. The distaste he treated them with. And still, he saw nothing in her eyes except love.

 

He told her about Logan and Lilly and Veronica, and how they had saved him. Not through direct intervention, but because of their own loss. How he had come to think of them as family.

 

In return, she told him about her childhood in Australia. About the dry heat of her home town, three hours drive from the coastline, sitting in a mountain bowl, far from the reach of rain clouds. About growing up in a drought zone, and how they had kept the vineyard alive during that time. About how she learnt to ride dirt bikes, old battered farm cars, tractors and farm machinery long before the law said she could. About how the storms rolled in from the west, and the heavens opened. The smell of the earth just before the storm hit, their ferocity. How it could be sunny one minute, and the next you would be drenched.

 

She tells him about how her land is ancient, wild. How even the mountains are worn down through the passage of time, rounded and blunted. How the colour of the land in the middle of the country seems unreal, like an alien landscape. How moving here was so strange, with the green wetness of the trees and forests, unfamiliar to her eyes. 

 

About her family and siblings, her parents. The boys she’d slept with. About getting her first tattoo. About how the sky always looked so much higher in the southern hemisphere. About school. How she had a stutter when she was younger, and that was how she had started to learn languages. It was a new way to think about speech, and while an unconventional move on her parent’s part, it had worked.

 

She told him about the bushfires that went through when she was younger, and the devastation they caused. How her country could simultaneously be experiencing cyclones, flooding, droughtand bush fire.

 

Weevil told her about life in the PCH. About how he hadn’t spoken to the guy who was his best friend, closer than a brother in two years. How the sheriff had gotten Felix and Molly out of town, for their safety. He told her about how there was an uber religious girl who got knocked up in their senior year. How the guy was also a student at Neptune High, and how he’d been so excited to be a father. Willing to step up and do good. How the family had wanted her to adopt the baby through services founded in religious indoctrination. How the girl had told the father about how her parents were mentally abusive. How the rumour was that Veronica and Logan had helped the two of them escape, and how they’d never been found. The grandparents wanted to file kidnapping charges, but the child had been taken by the biological parents, so they had no legal standing. Keith still didn’t know his children’s involvement, and if they had their way, they never would. 

 

About how Lilly had gotten him the job, and flown him out here. How there was no way he’d argue with her or V. Logan, perhaps.

 

He told her his stories, and in turn, she told him the her stories.

 

She told him about being home schooled until she was nine. She said that her mother was a teacher, but she’d quit when Ella was born. Because she wanted her kids to grow up with love. Because they lived too far from grandparents and childcare. And because she loved kids. Her mother hadn’t been able to help herself, and had taught her children from an early age. Ella had been raised with books and knowledge, and the belief that she could do anything. That being intelligent was a good thing, and that it didn’t matter she was a girl. How she’d gone to a local primary school when she was nine. It was seven kilometres from the house, and she’d ridden her horse there every day. It took about an hour either way, at a steady trot. Half the school rode horses to and from school. There was a barn behind the school building, bigger than the school to cater for the animals.

 

When she was eleven, she’d been accepted into an alternative specialist school. In the US, it would have been a GATE school - gifted and talented. In Australia, it was just a small alternate school. It had 140 students across seven years, or twenty in each year. The underlying philosophy was simple. Give them an additional year of high school and college, a total of seven years rather than six. Take them on before they finished primary schools. And put them in classes based on ability. Art, science, maths, english, music, language. Encourage them to reach beyond their peers in the areas that they excelled. There were seven tiers of the classes across the board. STEM wasn’t privileged over arts or humanities. Physical Education was compulsory, but varied. There were seven sports offered each term, and you simply picked one. You could play regular sports like tennis or soccer, or do rock climbing or swimming or orienteering. The school was happy so long as you were moving. The school had a strong relationship with the university, and if you tested above the highest level the school offered of a class and still wanted to take it, or if they didn’t offer a class, you’d be placed in a class at the university.The school was just off the campus of the major university, so you could walk to their classes and be back for your own without missing anything. It was a trial school, but the methods worked.

 

She’d been placed in tier four maths, English, chemistry, art and religion at school, and had tested above tier seven for Spanish and German. She’d also wanted to pick up Polish, so she took the three language courses at the university. Two years after she started, she picked up French as well. 

 

It was a two hour drive each day to get to and from school, and there were no busses. So, she drove as soon as she was old enough. Her parents drove before that, and she would sit in the back seat finishing her homework. Once she started driving, she lost that homework time, but gave her parents back the four hours they spent in the car each day. 

 

The way the school ran also meant she was able to graduate a semester early to start university in America. She decided NYU because they offered all the languages she spoke, offered translations courses, and was near a major UN hub. They were her goal, to work for a translator for the UN. 

 

School was an insular bubble. There weren’t very many students. To allow for the classes at the university, school days were longer than average, typically from 8:30am to 5:30pm. This was balanced by getting free periods every day, outside of the standard recess and lunch times. It was hard to understand or describe the school to people in mainstream schooling, so often it just became easier to not try. To become friends only with the people from your school, the people who understood.

 

In many ways, it set her up for going to university in the States. She’d already spent seven years doing university level courses. So, she knew what to expect, how to behave. She had spent a semester being homesick, and then found she’d adjusted. That this place had become home.

 

The unusual education worked for her. It had pushed her further than she would have achieved in a standard school. She’d dated, but nothing serious.

 

She told him about bush parties, about underage drinking experiments and losing her virginity. How it wasn’t unpleasant, but wasn’t great. How she could barely remember the experience, past the fact it happened.

 

She told him how strange it was that she was in university, doing a degree, and she still had to do general units. She’d explained that in Australia, once you got to university, they pretty much just let you focus on your chosen course. You had to take a few courses not related to your major, but they could be anything. In some ways it reminded her of being in high school again, but she didn’t mind. She’d done enough university level courses that she was able to get advanced standing for most of them, focusing on her majors instead. 

 

He told her the story behind each of his tattoos. The story of his first tattoo, and how he was hooked as soon as the needle touched his flesh. She would trace the outlines of each as he would talk.

 

The conversations about the tattoos inevitably led to one or both of them removing clothing. Which almost always led to sex. Weevil was grateful for the large bed that Lilly had insisted he needed. They’d gone to Ella’s dorm room exactly once, and discovered the downsides to tiny beds. Neither of them were huge people, but single beds were not made for sex. 

 

Having sex with her was different to any of the girls from high school. In high school, he’d been selfish with his affection, and they’d been shy and inexperienced. He generally got them off, but it was mostly out of some sort of sense of obligation. Ella, though, well. She was experienced. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to tell him exactly what that was. He’d found it startling at first, but soon learned that she would take his direction as well. And the sex was so much hotter than anything he’d had before. 

 

A week or so after the first time they’d had sex, he asked her how she reconciled her strong, deep Catholic beliefs with premarital sex.

 

She’d laughed before trying to explain. “God sees all. And so he sees all the aspects of my life. He sees the way I treat others. He sees that I don’t cheat, steal, murder, covet, lie, that I honour my parents and other elders. I volunteer and contribute to charities.I don’t follow any other God. But he also sees how times change. I don’t take the bible literally. I don’t think that the world was created in seven days. I believe that he did create it. Just, not in the fundamental sense that is outlined in a text that has been translated from one language to another for thousands of years. I don’t believe that it is a sin for me to look at my faith as a modern thing. After all, I eat shellfish, I wear clothes of mixed fibres, my parents planted fields of mixed crops. And the bible has told me that all of that is a sin. So, it’s not that I’m advocating a complete ability to pick and choose from the bible, but more to look at the intent behind it. I eat shellfish. The bible tells me that I shouldn’t. But, did that spring from the fact that unless you ate them as soon as they were caught, they were going to make you ill? I can see the practicalities of avoiding premarital sex, but in this era, why should I? I am honouring my God, my faith and still having sex. I see it as honouring my faith because I am _living._ Jesus taught us that we should love all others, the people who were of different faiths, outcasts, everyone. And what better way to show my love than connecting with them in this way, in showing them the most sacred parts of my self? Of showing love through the trust required to get naked in front of someone? I am not hiding my true self, but I am showing the world who I am, I am an active participant in that world. I am living in his image, the way that his son taught us…” she trailed off. Weevil just nodded, understanding. The ideals of the Catholic faith were at odds with many realities of modern life, and he understood the desire to reevaluate the tenants while continuing to believe in the Trinity. 

 

He told her how he’d resented Logan for the longest time, until his grandmother had explained about Logan’s father. About keying Aaron’s car, and how he couldn’t be sad that the man was dead.

 

He told her about the fire, and seeing his friends as these empty shell. About how they weren’t really his friends then, not yet. About Logan coming to see his grandmother and buying the house. How Logan had quietly helped Lettie get citizenship. How his grandmother had never reported what happened to Logan because she wasn’t a citizen, and she knew how easily she could be thrown out of the country. She knew the power that Aaron held. The power of celebrity in America, in California. How she couldn’t be thrown out because of him and his cousins. His parents were totally absent, unknown to him. His younger cousins too, didn’t know their parents, and Lettie was the only mother any of them had. 

 

Somewhere in the conversations, he stopped being Weevil and started being Eli. He liked the name coming from her lips. It made him feel adult, real. Like he truly had left behind his Neptune persona. Weevil would tape someone to a flagpole, Eli wouldn’t. 

 

************

 

Weevil and Ella have been dating for nearly six months, and Veronica’s tattoo has been finished for just over a month when he finally concedes and brings Ella to a Friday night dinner. He’s cautious, worried about the potential ramifications of bringing someone new into that world. The VeLoLi dynamic. Ella has met Lilly, but not Logan or Veronica. He knows that Ella is open minded, but how do you describe the relationship between the three of them? There is the idea that they are poly. That is possibly simple. He’s told her about their history. But hearing something and seeing it are two different beasts. 

 

Weevil’s fears are unfounded. Ella turns up, the perfect guest. It doesn’t matter to her how their relationship works. It just does. She isn’t worried that there might be something residual between Weevil and either of the girls. He’s talked about high school, about what he went through and what they went through. Mostly, she’s just curious. Curious about these people that she has heard so much about, that have become such a part of him and his family, his life. 

 

Arriving at dinner, Logan sits Ella down with Veronica and Lilly, steals Weevil away to help with dinner. He’s cooking Lettie’s fajitas, and although he know the recipe, he wants to give the girls a chance to bond. So he claims Weevil, wanting some ‘clarification on the recipe.’ They leave the girls to gossip, and cook. 

 

As they the two guys walk back into the living room, they find the girls sitting on the couch.Weevil looks at the three girls, and can’t help but think that they are like a gradation of colour. An ombre brush stroke, travelling from a clean page to a heavily pigmented brush stroke. They are all petite and blonde. They all have pale, alabaster skin. Lilly sits on the end with no tattoos, Veronica in the middle with her hidden tattoos and Ella on the end with her visible sleeves. 

 

Ella tells Logan that one of the things she misses most about living in NYC is that she no longer experiences family dinner. How even though her dorm provided meals, and she was surrounded by students at every meal, it just wasn’t the same. Her family would have dinner together every night. It was a sacred time, the time when the focus was on the children, not the farm or the cellar door. The time when the world was theirs, their parent’s attention was theirs. They would eat slowly, wanting to draw out the experience. Her parents are still so in love, they’d kiss over their dinner plates. Small gestures that taught her what family was. Family was love and affection and openness. Her mother was a brilliant cook, but her father was an adventurous cook. You’d never eat the same thing twice. He was a dash of this, splosh of that kind of cook, but it always worked. 

 

Ella is given a standing invitation to Friday night dinners.

 

********

 

Veronica and Lilly’s physical relationship developed slowly. It was more experimental than the relationship that either of them had with Logan. They’d sit on the couch and run hands along the other girl’s legs or arms. One would sit between the other’s legs as they lay back on the couch, and they’d run hands over the exposed stomach skin, easily in reach. Perhaps lightly brush fingers across the swell of the breasts, or kiss the neck. 

 

Tender and cautious. Leaving both of them feeling hot and bothered. Turned on with no release.

 

So, it’s not surprising that a few days after Veronica and Logan first have sex, that as Lilly and Veronica are lying on the couch, Lilly resting in Veronica’s arms, that Lilly feels Veronica’s fingers dip lower than they have before. Gently passing over the waistband of her pajama shorts. Travelling along her inner thigh as Lilly drops her knees apart. Veronica trailing kisses over Lilly’s neck.

 

Lilly drops her head back onto Veronica’s shoulder, eyes closed as she just focuses on feeling what Veronica is doing. 

 

Veronica’s hands trail upwards, and Lilly feels her shirt being pushed further up, and Veronica’s hands carefully covering her exposed breasts. 

 

As she moves her hands, Veronica carefully flicks Lilly’s nipples and feels them harden under her touch. Lilly moans in appreciation so Veronica does it again, lowering her mouth to Lily’s neck, kissing the creamy exposed skin just under Lilly’s jaw. 

 

Feeling emboldened by Lilly’s response, she moves one hand lower, leaving one kneading Lilly’s breast. She runs her fingers under the waist band of Lilly’s shorts, and feels her friend buck her hips in anticipation. Slipping her hands into Lilly’s shorts she runs her fingernails gently down the smooth skin, feeling the carefully trimmed pubic hair Veronica had always known that Lilly kept herself… maintained, but hadn’t seen it until a few days ago. Not until she woke up the first morning, naked in bed with Logan and Lilly. She had never wanted to do anything drastic to her own pubic hair, but the thin strip that Lilly maintained suited the girl. 

 

As she moved her hands lower, she heard the sound of the front door open. She knew that Logan was the only other person with a key, but doesn’t want to interrupt her moment with Lilly. She kisses Lilly’s neck, smiling at the mewling sound she makes. Lilly is lost in a world of feeling, and doesn’t hear the sound of the door, or Logan’s footsteps down the hall.

 

Logan comes home early that night. He hears the girls in the living room, and goes to see what they are up to. As he walks in, he sees Veronica with her hands down Lilly’s pants, and Lilly’s head lolling back. He sees the look of bliss on her face. He meets Veronica’s eyes, sees her nod and steps back, just out of sight. He knows she knows he’s there, but he isn’t going to intrude on the moment. Instead, he stands just in the shadows, just out of sight. He feels voyeuristic, but comforts himself with Veronica’s knowledge.

 

He’d always assumed that Lilly would be the one to make the first move with Veronica, but he was clearly proved wrong. 

 

Veronica cups her hand around Lilly’s pubic bone, pressing her middle finger between the folds of Lilly’s lips. She feels the wetness there, and runs her fingers down to coat it in Lilly’s juices. 

 

Slowly bringing her fingers upwards, she starts to rub small circles around Lilly’s clit. She’s never done this for someone else before, but it seems to be working. Lilly continues to make a soft mewling sound as Veronica applies different levels of pressure. She’s just going with what works for her, and so far it seems to be working for Lilly too. 

 

As Lilly’s moans get louder, Veronica increases the pace of her fingers. She keeps rubbing Lilly’s clit, feeling the slight tremors in her body as Lilly gets closer to her orgasm. 

 

Suddenly, Veronica hears Lilly cry out, and feels her muscles contract, trembling as she comes. Veronica keeps rubbing, holding the orgasm as long as she can. As Lilly relaxes back into her body, Veronica carefully removes her hand. Bringing her fingers to her mouth, she licks the taste of Lilly off her fingers. She wasn’t sure what she expected to taste, but didn’t expect it to taste good. 

 

As Veronica licks her fingers, and Lilly settles into her boneless post orgasm bliss, Logan quietly walks back into the room.

 

He kneels in front of the pair of girls, looking into Veronica’s eyes as he hooks his fingers into the elastic of Lilly’s waistband. Her eyes flicker open as she feels the new pair of hands on her body. Logan shushes her as he pulls her shorts down her hips. Lilly obliges and lifts her hips, then the shorts are on the floor and Logan has leant forward.

 

Inhaling deeply, he simply says “best sight to come home to, ever.”

 

Placing his hands on Lilly’s hips, he licks up her wet slit, savouring the taste of Lilly on his lips. He feels her shudder as he reaches her sensitive clit, and knows this isn’t going to last long.

 

Veronica is kneading Lilly’s breasts and planting kisses on her lips and neck. She looks into Logan’s eyes, smiling to see his talented mouth works it’s magic. He holds her eyes as he continues to lick and suck Lilly’s clit. 

 

Soon, sooner than he’d like, he feels the tell tale signs of Lilly about to come. He continues he efforts, and is rewarded by feeling Lilly’s second orgasm of the night. He places the palm of his hand on her clit as he stands up, leaning to kiss Veronica, laughing as she licks his lips, taking in the taste of Lilly. He sees Veronica question his hand, and shrugs “she likes it.”

 

He sits back on his heels, watching his girls for a few minutes. He can see Lilly begin to drift to sleep. Carefully removing his hand, he puts his hands under Lilly’s knees, around her shoulders and gently picking her up.

 

“Bed time,” he whispers, barely making a sound. 

 

************

 

Eli took Ella back to Neptune for Christmas that year. She told him how cold Christmases confused her. That growing up, her family had celebrated by filling a paddling on Christmas day, everyone sitting around with their feet in the water. It was the only day of the year they did that. They weren’t on town water, and it was too wasteful to fill the pool, even a small one. It was something special and magical, for Christmas only. She’d done two Christmases in New York, and while the snow had been pretty, it just didn’t feel right. Neptune was better, still not the 30 plus days she was used to, but better. She laughed at her slip. “Thirty Celsius, Eli. Celsius. Like, above 90.”

 

Sitting at the Christmas Eve dinner. Eli looked around, assessed the people around him. Leaning towards Ella, he nodded at the people around the table. Most nodded back at him, smiled at his greeting. He met the eyes of everyone around the table.

 

“This is my family, chica,” he whispered in Ella’s ear. 

 

She nods, smiling. “I know.”

 

Ella looks around the garden, amazed at the beauty of it. It seems so unlikely given the expensive houses nearby, and the fact that it covers the land closest to the beach. They are clearly in a gated community, and no one sitting around the table seems to own one of the houses. It seems odd to her that such a large stretch of land, so close to the beach is vacant. The garden is so big - she had wandered around it earlier with Mac, the two of them just trying to stay out of the way of the dinner preparations. It could easily have had two mansions on it, without sacrificing the sizable grounds all the houses in the community had.

 

“What is this place?”

 

“The Duncan Kane Garden.”

 

Weevil sees recognition at the name, and her eyes widen as she looks around the garden again.

 

Moving himself closer to her, he brings he head towards her. Lowering his voice that only Ella can hear their conversation, he continues. “The fire that went through, when we were in school? That was here. This garden is on the site of the Kane and Echolls properties. Lilly and Logan were the surviving heirs to each family. Keith became executor of the fortunes until they both turned 18, and could manage in their own rights. They were all these... shells… after the fires, so Keith used some of the money from their inheritance to clear the houses, the rubble. He didn’t know what they wanted done with the blocks, so he just, kept paying the gardeners, y’know? 

 

“And then, the gardeners started to landscape. One of them is the uncle of a kid I was in the PCH with. So I’d hear bits and pieces about it. They could have slacked off, but it was the sheriff who asked them to look after it all. He’s done a lot for the community, y’know? So they decided to make the space nice. The planted bits, paved bits. Made it nice.

 

“Logan found out eventually, and he still pays them to keep it nice. Last year, he and Lilly decided that this should be left as it is, in memory of Duncan.

 

“The other houses hate it. It’s the most expensive land, the only two properties with private beach access, and it’s a garden. Lilly and Logan refuse to sell. They aren’t breaking any of the strata conditions. They aren’t breaking any laws.

 

“They did build a small yurt, further down, last year. It has a bathroom and a kitchen. And a tiny bedroom. But mostly, it was about the kitchen - which is huge, by the way. That’s how this was all cooked. Logan likes this Christmas Eve tradition, and it’s a pain to cook the food elsewhere. So it seems logical.

 

“Dick and Logan come down here to surf when they’re back in town. I think V just comes and sits. I’m not sure about Lilly. In many ways, she was hit the hardest by it all. She’s better now, but I think it still hurts her here, a little. But she’s also happy to be rewriting these memories, these positive associations, onto the place.

 

“They gave this place a formal name and all, but it you hear them talking about it, they’ll just call it ‘the garden.’ They’ve all dealt with their grief, but saying his name is painful I guess.”

 

The next day, Eli and Ella open presents with Lettie and his cousins. Eli watches her, and loves her a little more. He watches as she talks to his grandmother in her strange Spanish accent, and smiles as his aubela teases her about it. Seeing her with his family, he knows that she is it for him. He’s found the girl that he is going to spend the rest of his life with.

 

Across town, Keith is enjoying his time with his children. True to form, the three have lavished him with gifts. The last one, however, seems to make them nervous. Logan hands him a small envelope, and he can see the apprehension in the boy’s eyes.

 

Opening it, he finds two documents confirming official name changes - Lillian Kane Mars and Logan Mars. A post note is stuck to Logan’s.

 

_You were always my father, Keith._

 

Keith looks at them, and they see tears shining in his eyes.

 

“Best. Gift. Ever.”

 

The night before they leave Neptune, Eli takes Ella to the beach one last time, right on sunset. With a laugh, she told him that now she’d watched the sun rise and set over the Pacific, and that sunset was by far her favourite.

 

As the sun dipped under the horizon, she turned to Eli, looked at his ridiculously long lashes and chocolate eyes.

 

“I love you, Eli,” she says quietly, and he can feel his heart swell at the sound of those words on her lips for the first time. 


	10. College - Junior Year

The relationship between Veronica, Logan and Lilly develops over the next year. They talk more, about their relationship, about their plans for the future, about their images of what their lives will be. About children, and the legal ramifications of their relationship. Their feelings on marriage, and what that means for them. 

 

They discuss the implications of children. Of family trees. Of Keith being all their legal guardians. 

 

Sometimes, they spend just a few minutes talking about some issue or idea, and other times it takes hours. 

 

By the end of their second year in New York, they had come to the conclusion that they are in a relationship build on the idea of polyfidelity, but they are open to the idea or concept of romantic relationships outside their relationship. That marriage isn’t something they are interested in, mainly because multiple marriages, polygamy is illegal. Their relationship steps outside the societal norms, and they don’t want to step outside the legal system as well. Especially as Veronica is still pursuing a career as a lawyer. Which she won’t be able to do if she is actively breaking state and federal laws. Despite Keith taking guardianship of all three of them, none of them are lineally related, so there are no laws relating to incest being broken. 

 

They discuss children, and both Lilly and Veronica are open to the idea of children, in the future. Logan is all for a small litter of them. The more the better. He wants to be an active parent, better than his father, but both girls can see the fear in his eyes when he talks about children. Later, in private, Veronica suggests he talk to someone about his father. That it might calm his anxieties a little. 

 

They talk about Logan’s father. Logan had been good at covering things up, and there were always slight inconsistencies that Veronica had… ignored. Refusing to go swimming, insisting on endless rounds of video games, rash vests when surfing. Long sleeves in the middle of summer. Multiple layers.

 

“What was your plan, Logan?” she’d asked. She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but something in her made her want it confirmed.

 

“Ride it out. Wait ‘til I was eighteen, then get the hell out of dodge. Antagonise him so that at least I knew why I was getting the beatings. But mostly, my eyes were fixed on the day I turned eighteen and could just leave. My trust fund would have kicked in, and luckily didn’t have an education clause. I just would have… left. Mexico probably. Somewhere where I could surf most likely. Australia maybe, the beaches there are wicked and it’s so far away. I could escape, y’know?

 

“My mother knew, but she didn’t, couldn’t do anything about it. Trina refused to see it, worshipped the ground that Aaron walked on, insisted that I was making up stories to get attention. Duncan didn’t know. Lilly did, but I mostly hid it from her as well. We didn’t get as… physical… when I had something that was healing. She’d seen the scars, but I convinced her not to pry. She was… self absorbed?… back then. So was I. Actually, I was just a jack ass, which was a helpful cover for me. It was a coping mechanism, I guess.

 

“But yeah. Eighteen.” Logan had changed the subject then. He knew he should see someone, but he was still the seven year old that had his doctor paid off so that his injuries didn’t make it into medical records. Catch 22 - he needed to see someone so he could stop being the scared seven year old, and the scared seven year old couldn’t see anyone cos his daddy would pay them off.

 

They talk about the privileged position they are in. Money isn’t a consideration in any of their conversations. Between Lilly and Logan, they are billionaires. Their accountants and financial advisors are good, and continue to make the money grow. They are living off the interest of their combined wealth. They don’t have student loans or mortgage repayments to worry about. Veronica has accepted the financial differences between them, and that their money is her money. She loves how generous they are to everyone they consider to be family - her father, Meg, Wallace, Weevil, Lettie. She knows they have all been given ‘emergency’ cards, credit cards that are paid for by the combined Kane/Echolls fortune. She knows that if Dick and Mac weren’t together, Mac would get the same treatment.

 

They talk about the way the wealth still makes Veronica feel uneasy. That they could be doing so much good with the money. Even a small portion. They talk about this, and then to their accountants and lawyers about setting up a series of grants. Up to a million dollars, based on applications. For anything - education, research, development. They also set up regular donations to a few carefully selected charities - one that helps children who are abused, another giving disadvantaged kids access to the arts. This makes Veronica feel… calmer… about the wealth. 

 

More than the money, they discuss the use of their time, and volunteering. That their time can be more valuable than their money. Lilly volunteers at a grade school, running an after school art course. Logan donates his time at a homeless shelter once a week, cooking. Veronica volunteers for a program that phones elderly people once or twice a week, giving them someone to talk to.

 

They talk about how they see their relationship, the ground rules of acceptable behaviour. How they should touch base on a semi regular basis to check in, check that everyone is still okay. 

 

Other days, they don’t talk at all, loosing themselves in the physical aspects of their relationship.

 

Their physical relationships develop along side their emotional relationships. Sex as a threesome starts out awkward and tentative. Unsure, limbs everywhere, trying too hard. Pushing something that will evolve organically. But they learn that laughter is just as useful as words. The laughter helps them all relax, figure out how a physical relationship with two people works. How to have a threesome. 

 

********

 

Their second Christmas together, LoVeLi gave Eli and Ella a gift of return flights to Australia. Eli visited the wide brown land that Ella loved, and marveled at the beauty and starkness of the landscape. The mountains weren’t the green he was used to, but a blue-grey colour. The sky was perhaps even brighter than California on a clear day. The earth was flecked with a red colour. Everything looked like it had been saturated with colour, the contrast turned up to maximum. The country felt wild. Rugged and untamed. Like it was just biding its time, letting them farm and control it, but any moment it could explode. Parts of it are familiar to him. Neptune, like much of Southern California, was filled with giant eucalyptus trees. He sees them everywhere in Australia, and they make him feel at home. They fit here. They are trees that are never truly tamed, even when planted in neat rows. They don’t respond to pruning and stay a uniform shape, instead mocking those who try. In the wildness of the Australian landscape, they take on a vitality they never had in California.

 

“Just don’t park your car under them,” Ella warns. “A few of the types that grow around here are referred to as widow makers, and with good reason. They will drop a branch without warning. People used to die from it. Still do, if they’re stupid, like pitching a tent under a tree, or just plain unlucky.”

 

They are in Australia for a little over three weeks. Ella takes him to the coast, and he sees the sun rise over the Pacific. She also takes him to the outback, to the New South Wales and South Australian border. The drive takes them two days, and Eli is struck by how large the country is, how sparsely populated. He’d thought she was crazy when she’d packed a jerry can of fuel, a satellite phone and twenty litres of water. Then they’d driven for two days, and don’t even leave the state. He could count the number of other vehicles they passed on the second day on less than one hand, and he’d understood. He finds it strange that Australia is geographically about the same size as America, and yet it is divided into six states and two territories. She explains that the seven pointed star on the flag represents the states and territories - one point for each state, and a shared point for the territories. The further they drive, the redder the land gets. Forest gives way to sparse low bushes and the occasional gum tree. They are in the middle of nowhere, isolated. There is no cell signal half way through their second day of driving. The land is getting flatter. Asphalt highways become dirt roads. 

 

Eventually, Ella stops driving. It’s just on dusk, and Eli has never seen so many stars. She takes the cover of the back of the ute and climbs in. Brushes off the film of red dust that has settled on the mattress and lays back. Eli joins her, and they fall asleep watching the stars appear.

 

Ella wakes him early the next morning, just before dawn. Silently handing him his shoes, he puts them on. The early morning feels magical, sacred and he doesn’t want to break that feeling with words. Putting the shoes on his feet, he follows her up the hill.

 

Sitting at the top of the hill, they watch the sun slowly rise. Eli feels calm, at peace as he sits behind Ella, arms wrapped loosely around his girlfriend.

 

As the sun breaks the horizon and becomes a complete ball, low and large, he hears her start talking. 

 

“ The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded lanes.

Of ordered woods and gardens

Is running in your veins,

Strong love of grey-blue distance

Brown streams and soft dim skies

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

 

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me!

 

A stark white ring-barked forest

All tragic to the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon.

Green tangle of the brushes,

Where lithe lianas coil,

And orchids deck the tree-tops

And ferns the warm dark soil.

 

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart, around us,

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

 

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the Rainbow Gold,

For flood and fire and famine,

She pays us back threefold -

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze.

 

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand -

Though earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly.”

 

Out here, the words of the poem seem more potent. Dorothea Mackellar’s poem _My Country_ wasn’t well known, even within Australia, but she has always resonated with the descriptions of her beloved homeland. With the love of land and country she feels in the words. She hadn’t meant to recite the words she’d learnt so many years ago, but sitting here with Eli they had slipped, fallen from her lips. 

 

The words are unfamiliar to him, but looking out over the red earth, thinking about what he’s seen of Australia, they resonate with him. He can feel the yearning in her voice as she recites the poem. The love she holds for the wild, ancient land.

 

“Marry me,” he breathes in her ear. His proposal is unplanned and he doesn’t have a ring for her. He doubts it will matter though. 

 

“In a heartbeat,” is her immediate reply.

 

They barely talk as they drive back. She’d bought him out west so that he could see the sun rise over that mountain. It was one of those things that she loved, and had wanted to share with him. 

 

************

 

Eli had only been thinking about his love for Ella when he proposed. Although he was familiar with US immigration laws, and the ways that people circumvented them, he hadn’t really considered that she was only allowed to stay as long as she was a student. That once she graduated, she would have to leave. He hadn’t realised that to stay in the country, she needed to either be sponsored by an employer, or get married. His proposal was based on love and his desire to spend the rest of his life with her. 

 

Ella knew that Eli had proposed out of love, and it was because of her deep love that she’d accepted the proposal. With less than a year of her degree to go, she was very aware of her status in the country. That she might have to leave the place she loved, the man she loved. She knew that it happened, and that many couples where one spouse was a citizen, the other a foreigner. She had friends, a lesbian couple, who’d been legally married in the state of New York, who couldn’t get a spouse visa because their relationship wasn’t recognised by the US government. Who’d spent more than two years apart during the three they’d been married. She wanted to stay in the US, and she’d always assumed that she’d be getting a job and hoping they would be happy to sponsor her. 

 

Now, it looked like marriage would be keeping her in the country.

 

Ella had never dreamed of her wedding. Sometimes, it worried her that she was strange, weird, abnormal. That she was less of a girl because she didn’t know what dress she wanted, what sort of ceremony, reception, shoes, songs, invitations, flowers she wanted. She knew that she found the idea of it being the ‘bride’s day’ deeply uncomfortable. There were two people entering the marriage, so the wedding day should be equally about both of them. That people asked her about the proposal, even if Eli was standing there. He wasn’t part of the conversation. He wasn’t included. But she still felt like she was lacking somehow, that she didn’t know any of the details.

 

In the end, it didn’t matter. Logan helped with many of the details. It turned out that he was a huge romantic. He knew flowers and dresses and jewellery. His life of wealth and privilege, his easy access to money meant that he hew about parties and catering, photographers and invitations. He became her go to contact for questions about the details. The big things, like the where and the when and the who, those she discussed with Eli. She included him in every decision, and found herself walking out of stores and away from vendors that excluded him from the conversation. 

 

They had three weddings. The first was the ‘official’ wedding, in a New York City court house. It was simple, and perhaps her favourite event. They held it on a Wednesday morning in February. There were just three people who attended - Lilly, Logan and Veronica. They acted as the wedding party, as witnesses, and as the photographers. The entire ceremony lasted about ten minutes, but for both Eli and Ella, they were the best ten minutes of their lives. They were formally bound, and the union just felt right to them. Both of them knew they’d met their forever person. There was no one else, and this marriage was it. Divorce wasn’t in either of their vocabularies.

 

Ella graduated in early June, and had accepted a job as a translator starting in late September. She had three months with no plans, no school, nothing to hold her in New York except Eli. She didn’t know the next time they would have so much free time, and wanted to take advantage of it. So Eli took three months off work. The three months would be spent with their families, their friends. Having their second and third weddings and going on their honey moon. One month would be spent in Neptune, one month in Australia, and the final month would be spent in Europe. 

 

The day after her graduation, Ella dropped the last box of stuff at LoVeLi’s apartment. She had officially been living in her dorm since they got married, but in reality, she only spent a few hours a week there, studying between classes. She’d been unofficially living with Eli since he proposed. And both of them were now moving out, before their travels. Her friends, his family had been kind enough to off them the guest room whenever they needed it. At the LoVeLi apartment. She giggled each time she used the shortening, but it did have its uses. _If you could join two names, Brangelina style, why not joining three?_ she thought, giggling to herself. Eli had moved his stuff to the apartment a few days earlier, officially moving out of the apartment behind the tattoo parlor. It didn't make sense for them to be paying rent while they were away, and they knew there was enough space at the apartment. Logan had made it clear to both of them that they were family, and they could stay as long as they needed. 

 

Two weeks after her graduation, the second wedding was in Neptune. It was held at the garden, just on sunset. It was an informal ceremony. Instead of celebrants or a minister, Logan, Lilly and Veronica oversaw the ceremony. Eli’s family, both blood and chosen, were in attendance. A few of Ella’s friends from school, Lucas. About forty people in total. After the ceremony, they had a bonfire on the beach, sat around telling stories and just being. 

 

The final wedding was in Australia.It was a week after their Neptune wedding, in the small, country church Ella had been christened in, where she had attended her first communion. Where she had sat every Sunday almost her whole life, listening to the teachings and loving God. The priest who had baptised her married them. Of all the weddings, this was the only one where she wore a white dress, where she wore a veil and participated in the more traditional aspects of a wedding. Her father walked her down the aisle, her childhood friends did readings. Afterwards, her parent’s hosted the reception at the cellar door of their vineyards. 

 

Breaking tradition, they had a mixed gender bridal party. Ella’s sisters were her bridesmaids, while Logan, Lilly and Veronica were Eli’s groomsmen. The three knew that if life had been different, Felix would have been Eli’s best man. He was family, a brother to the burly ex-biker. But, life had dealt the cards, and Logan, someone Eli had never expected to call brother, stood as his Best Man.

 

Travelling with Eli was fun, and they spent as much time in crappy youth hostels as they did in luxury hotels. They stayed in pensiones, the strange name given to the spare room rented out in little old lady’s houses, vacated by long grown up children. In apartments, rented out to tourists. LoVeLi were footing the bill for their honeymoon in Europe, and had told them to go where and stay where they pleased. They’d started in Western Europe, but after a week in France, Ella had wanted to get away from the tourists, the drunken Australian tourists and boorish Yanks. They’d headed to Eastern Europe, to small towns where the were surrounded by locals. Where the only English they spoke might be at the tourist information office and written in the menu at the local restaurant. They visited castles and beaches, lakes and forests, villas and churches and museums. They stayed in and had wild and passionate sex. They ate local delicacies, street food and home cooked meals. They discovered a dark, airy rye bread served with a cream cheese, and gorged themselves on it. The were silly and young and in love. 


	11. College - senior year

Logan had quietly graduated from the Culinary Institute a few days before they’d headed back to Neptune for the wedding.He was proud to have finished, proud to have gained the qualification. But he’d spent enough time in the spotlight, and preferred not to be the centre of attention. He knew this aversion was based on his childhood and teen relationship with his father, of playing happy families in the public eye, of having his right to consent removed. He was talking to his therapist about it, but for now preferred not to be the centre of big celebrations. To be part of the crowd. To facilitate for others. He was happy to have finished his studies. Happy to help with the planing of the weddings. Glad to help Eli and Ella start their lives, to give them the memories of their travels.

 

Before they’d left Australia for Europe, Eli had asked Logan to look for an apartment for them. Eli had specified a price range, and made Logan promise not to buy them any property. They were going to rent in New York for a while, together, as a couple, before they made any more permanent decisions. He’d given the list of their preferences, neighbourhoods, and asked his friend if he could see if anything being a deal breaker.

 

Logan, Lilly and Veronica had taken the wedding as an excuse to travel Australia. They had given themselves a month to travel around the vast country, knowing they would barely touch the surface, but wanting to experience the highlights. They visited Sydney, and went to the ballet in the iconic Sydney Opera House. They travelled up the coast line north, driving to surf spots between Sydney and Brisbane. They discovered that Veronica was the most comfortable driving on what seemed like the wrong side of the road. They saw the sun rise over the Pacific ocean. They flew further north, snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef. Swum off the most pristine, white beaches they had ever seen. They flew to the heart of the country, and walked around the huge, red rock that dominated the landscape. Listened to tales of the traditional owners, of the caretakers of the ancient land at Uluru. They flew further west, visiting the world’s most isolated capital city, and went swimming in the Indian Ocean. They visited wine regions, the Margaret River and the Yarra Valley, enjoying being able to legally drink in Australia. They flew back east, visiting the hipster paradise of Melbourne. As they flew back to New York, they knew that they would be returning to Australia again. They’d fallen in love with the harsh, huge country. With the relaxed humour and casual manner of the people they’d met on their travels. 

 

Logan threw himself into the task of house hunting for Ella and Eli. He had a month to find them something perfect. Five days into the search, he knew he’d found the perfect place. It was a brownstone, newly renovated, with access to a private garden at the centre. Two bedrooms, pet friendly, within their price range, close enough to both their work places to allow them to commute. 

 

Lilly itched to furnish and decorate the place, but Logan and Veronica had talked her out of it. Logan had promised that they would leave the decorating to Eli and Ella. Eli had had a glint in his eye that Logan knew meant Eli had a plan. 

 

******

 

Logan had found a job at an up and coming restaurant. In the evenings, it was a trendy bar. But in the mornings, it was the place to be on the upper east side for Brunch. In the years that they had been living in New York, Brunch had graduated from being the filler meal that allowed you to have a cocktail with breakfast, to an event in it’s own right, capital letter and all. He’d been offered other jobs, but the appeal of evenings at home had swayed him to take this one. He was selfish and young, wanting to be able to spend as much time with the loves of his life. 

 

Lilly and Veronica threw themselves in their final years of study. Lilly and Logan set study ground rules for Veronica. She only had one evening class, and all other nights she had to be home in time for dinner. There was to be no study after Friday night dinner, and a curfew of 11pm for all study. There weren’t to be any all nighters, and Veronica would keep running with Logan in the mornings before he went to work. Lilly played by the same rules, but wasn’t as tunnel visioned about her studies, so didn’t need to be reminded as often. Both Lilly and Logan were sure that if they left her to her own devices, Veronica would be inhaling frozen meals at her desk before passing out from exhaustion on a nightly basis. 

 

In amongst the study and the jobs, and the act of just living, they still found time to be young. They kept up their schedule of dates, and doing the things that scared them. Donating their time to the community. Their lives had become full and complete. 

 

Veronica found that her schedule was breaking down many of her filters. She found she experienced intense word vomit late at night, when Lilly to Logan came to take to bed. The lack of filter, of verbalising every thought that went through her head is only reason she came up with for asking Logan about one of his fantasies late one night about two months before she was due to graduate. 

 

“What did you mean that one time we’d leave the shoes on?” The idea had been flitting through her head for a few hours. The texts she was reading had made her think about the first time she’d had sex with Logan.

 

“Well,” he’d said, standing behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders as she sat at her desk chair, moving her hair over her right shoulder and kissing the soft spot at the base of her throat. “You and Lilly, you have this insane collection of shoes. And you put the heels on, and your legs just go forever,” he slowly explained, kissing behind her ear. “You are so sexy without them, but if you kept them on while we had sex, it would be super hot.”

 

She’d turned to him, smiling. “You have a thing for our shoes, Logan? Should we be worried that we’ll come home and they’ll be stretched out?” she teased. 

 

A few nights later, the three of them had been out late at a gig with Veronica’s band. Veronica had taken to wearing insane heels on stage. Strappy, buckles, black, four or five inches tall, they lifted her petite frame up. She would bounce around the stage in them, seemingly unconcerned that the heels were at best unstable. Designed for standing not dancing. Lilly would usually wear heels that were just as tall, so that she and Veronica continued to be the same height. She would sit at a booth with Logan and they would watch Veronica perform. Lilly was constantly amazed at the energy, the passion that Veronica showed on stage. She stepped into another persona, almost became a different person. She lost some of the spiky edge she usually wore. Redirected the sass and snark in a way she usually reserved for her close friends and family. She flirted with the crowd, drawing them in, making herself their focus. Demanding their attention, forcing them to watch her and her only. 

 

Veronica loved the buzz from performing, the rush she felt as the audience became hers. As she fed off their energy. It was a heady feeling, intoxicating. It was like being drunk without a single drop of alcohol passing her lips. She was addicted to the feeling. To the energy that pulsated through her veins, colouring her skin with a pink blush. It made her feel alive, electric, wanting to touch Lilly and Logan, to share the emotions she was feeling. Horny and sexy.

 

Invariably, she would end up attacking one of them with her lips as they sat in the couch. Logan and Lilly had learnt that it was usually just a matter of proximity. Whoever was closest was the one she would choose after gigs. They’d also found that the high wore off quickly, and she would be asleep before they returned to their apartment. 

 

This night was different though. She was awake when they arrived back at the apartment. She’d fallen on Lilly when they got in the cab, running her hands up the other girl’s body, delighting in the reactions she’d elicited. Logan had sat back to watch them, blissed out to see the happiness on both girl’s faces. Veronica had stopped kissing Lilly, and was whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Logan couldn’t make out the words, but assumed that Veronica was saying something dirty as he watched the blush rise up Lilly’s chest. 

 

They’d stumbled out of the cab, Veronica grabbing both of their hands, pulling them into the building. She’d giggled as they entered the elevator, biting her lip like she did when she was keeping a secret. Logan just shook his head. She’d share it soon enough. Veronica had proved to be very good at finding out secrets, but hopeless at keeping them. 

 

Veronica pulled them out of the elevator, into their apartment. She and Lilly were giggling like they were drunk. If he hadn’t spent the last few hours with the two girls, he would have assumed they were. Instead, he just smiled to see them happy and relaxed. They’d barely gotten in the door before they started stripping off, dropping clothing as they moved down the corridor. In between removing clothing, their lips kept seeking each other. Veronica kept looking at him, leading him down to their bedroom with her eyes. 

 

By the time they were in the bedroom, both Veronica and Lilly were clothed in just their heels. They turned to look at Logan, and seeing the desire in their eyes, he felt himself grow hard. They were standing close, Veronica’s arm around Lilly’s waist, holding the other girl close to her body. They touched their foreheads together as they stared at him.

 

“Tonight it’s about you, Logan,” Veronica told him. “I spent the entire time on stage tonight thinking about you. Thinking about this.”

 

Slowly, Veronica and Lilly start to undress Logan. Leading him through the apartment, Lilly convinces him to lay him on the bed, as Veronica grabs something from the nightstand in her bedroom. 

 

Smiling, she returns to the main room with a bottle of massage oil. She realised about a year ago that while Logan loves sex, he loves the intimacy of acts of care more. Things like a massage. The connection of touch. 

 

And of course, massages often turn to sex.

 

Seeing Veronica return to the bedroom, Lilly whispers in his ear, and he slowly rolls so he’s lying on his stomach. Covering her hands with a liberal amount of oil, Veronica starts with his right shoulder, slowly working out the knots and kinks he’s holding from his job in the restaurant. Lilly joins in, starting with his left ankle, working her way up his body as Veronica works down. 

 

Logan feels their hands on his skin, and enters a blissed out state of relaxation somewhere between sleep and awake. He’s always amazed at the strength of the two women in his life - both emotional, and physical. Veronica in particular is tiny, and yet the strength as she massages his back is astounding. Her touch is soothing and loving, and so different from the slight teasing that Lilly applies. He can feel Lilly getting higher up his legs, occasionally brushing his ass with her hands, and can feel himself start to harden as her touches become more insistent.

 

Shifting to make himself more comfortable, Logan is unaware of the look that Lilly and Veronica share over his body. Veronica keeps massaging his ass as Lilly moves off the bed, stripping down to just her heels. Returning to the bed, she takes over for Veronica. When she’d gone to the bedroom earlier, Veronica had removed the underwear she’d been wearing while she performed, leaving just the stockings and garter belt that were her favourite thing to wear while on stage. No one could see that she was wearing such beautiful, scandalous sets, but she knew and it made her feel empowered. Now she stripped down, leaving her boots and garter belt on. Fulfilling another one of Logan’s fantasies.

 

Returning to the bed, the two girls carefully rolled Logan onto his back. They continued his massage, moving in tandem from different ends of his body to meet in the middle. Logan slowly awakened as his dick got harder, moving from the blissed boneless relaxation of the massage, to the throbbing horniness of his arousal. 

 

Logan gasped as Lilly’s hands found his dick, and slowly, excruciatingly, started to massage the length. Her hands slid along his length with the oils from the massage, feeling warm and wet and he couldn’t decide if he wanted her to speed up or to maintain the delicious agony of the current speed.

 

Looking over at Veronica, he drank in the sight of her in the boots and garter belt. Reaching out, he pulled her closer, bringing her lips to his as he luxuriated in the sensations of Lilly kissing his inner things, his stomach while continuing to massage his dick, rubbing her hands up and down his length.

 

Veronica felt Logan gasp with pleasure as Lilly took Logan’s length in her mouth. As Lilly’s ministrations continued, started to buck his hips, trying to create a rhythm against her lips. Reaching down, Lilly began to thumb her clit, feeling the wetness of her arousal. 

 

Logan, no longer happy to be a passive participant, pulls Veronica up, guiding her to sit on his face so he can lick and suck her clit. Seeing the movement, Lilly decides it’s time to change her approach, and the speed of the evening. Moving up his body, she positions his dick at her now well lubricated opening. She’s always amazed at how hot she finds it, watching Logan eat out Veronica.

 

Shifting her hips slightly, she sinks down onto Logan’s dick, and feels him twitch in response. Leaning her weight forward, she braces herself on his chest and starts grinding, watching him pause in his ministrations of Veronica’s clit. She can see the muscles in Veronica’s back beginning to shake, and knows that he other girl is close. Speeding her movements up, she moves her hand between herself and Logan, continuing to massage her clit. In what could have been seconds or could have been minutes, she hears Veronica cry out, and sees her spasm as the orgasm hits her. Logan’s hips have joined her as she rides him, and she smiles as Veronica rolls onto her side, leaving a high heeled leg draped over Logan’s torso. Logan moves a hand to Lilly’s hip, but keeps another on Veronica’s leg. Lilly doesn't think he even realises that he’s done it, but doesn’t move his hand. She’s spent enough of Veronica’s gigs with Logan to know exactly how much the boots turn him on. 

 

Locking eyes with Logan, she matches her movements to his, watching as his stomach muscles contract. She know’s he’s trying to told off his own orgasm, wanting her to come first. It’s always the way that he works. 

 

“Tonight’s for you. Come for me,” she whispers, not knowing if he will hear it, or even comprehend. Smiling, she sees his eyes start to roll, and knows he’s about to come. Keeping her movements at the same frenetic pace, she watches as he comes undone, feels him come. She tightens her muscles around his cock, milking him through his orgasm. 

 

Leaning forward, she kisses Logan’s lips, and sees him start to drift into sleep. Veronica has already fallen into a deep slumber, boots and all. Careful not to wake either sleeping party, she carefully sits up. Reaching down, she removes her heels and drops them of one side of the bed. She unzips Veronica’s boots and they join her heels on the floor. Turning off the overhead light, she returns to bed, pulling the covers over the three off them.

 

******

 

Lilly and Veronica graduate from college. Keith flies out for both ceremonies, and takes them to a celebratory meal at a little Italian place they all love. They talk about the future, and he updates them on the happenings in Neptune.

 

They go travelling for a month over the holidays, this time seeing their own country. Logan devises trip as part ‘ultimate USA road trip’ and part ‘oh my god, we have to eat there.’ Veronica rediscovers the joys of driving long distances with the people she loves, and the freedom and relaxation it brings her. It’s their last summer break - Logan already has a ‘real person’ job, and Lilly is about to start her job as a permanent guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She’s about to start Law school, and knows that their ability to take long blocks of time off is going to diminish as soon as they are all in real jobs. They dawdle around the country, enjoying the freedom their anonymity gives them, enjoying the ever changing scenery and people and being young. 


	12. Law School - Year 1

Eventually, all of them end up back in Neptune. Somehow, the pull of their old stomping grounds is too strong. The pull of the familiar, of the people who were there in their formative years. She’d never really considered it, but all of them were touched by the fire. They were a strange cohort. 

 

The first to return, straight out of college, were Mac and Dick.

 

The move for them was simple. There was a job waiting for her in Neptune. A good job, better than she would have expected. One that she feels a bit of nepotism taking, but after spending almost all of her senior year saying no, she was surprised to wake up the day before graduation, and ring Lilly to say yes. 

 

Lilly still owns Kane Software, but she knows she is a figure head. She knows nothing about computers, about business, and realises that she doesn’t want to. She also doesn’t have to. The board is capable of running the company without her input, and the companycontinues to make a substantial profit. But Mac knows computers. And, perhaps more importantly, Mac has a very strong moral and ethically code. Lilly doesn’t think that Kane software is operating unethically, but if they were, it would be unlikely they would tell her. Lilly remembers Mac confiding that she broke into the Kane software systems several times as a teenager, just for the fun of it. There is still a seat for Lilly on the board, and after a year of carefully placed suggestions, dropping hints and telling Mac she should take the seat, she finally gets Mac to take her seat on the board by proxy.

 

Mac agrees, but knows that her presence will be difficult. She’s young, has no business knowledge. She knows computers, but people still scare her. The pay is substantial, and more than she could get anywhere else. The pay puts her… not on an equal financial footing with Dick, but in a place where she can hold her own. Money has never been an issue in their relationship. Dick was open and generous. But knowing that she had worked for the money made her feel better.

 

It’s weird going back to Neptune. She was such an outsider most of her time there. Yet, that all changed thanks to LoVeLi. It was mostly instinct that made her ask Veronica to look into her parents. Something told her that if Veronica couldn’t find it, there was nothing there. But Veronica is Veronica, and of course she found it. Somehow, that made her part of the group. Not because Veronica was sorry for her, or because she wanted to introduce her to the 09er lifestyle, but because Veronica liked _her_. Saw her as a friend, a girl. Not just the computer nerd, one of the guys.

 

Mac was surprised that she actually enjoys the job at Kane softward. She spent her time on the board, as Lilly requested, but she also spent time with the employees. She particularly enjoyed the research and development division. 

 

When they had finished at Neptune High, Dick had decided that he didn’t want to go to college. Mac had supported that, and for the first year they were in Ithaca he’d spent doing, well, not much. She knew he had played a decent amount of video games. But past that, she wasn’t sure what he did with his time. The following year, though, he’d enrolled in community college. “I’m not the brains of the relationship, Mackie,” he’d told her. “But, I don’t want to be a dead weight, either. I want to be able to keep up with you. And we both know I’m not the worlds best student. Community College is perfect for me.” As it turned out, he was right. He’d enrolled in a business major, and the relaxed atmosphere had suited him. His was a three year degree, so he finished the same year that she did. He got decent marks - comfortably getting credits and distinctions for his classes. 

 

Mac and Dick got married the summer after they graduated. Mac had almost agreed to a Vegas wedding, but in the end, they got married in the garden. It was a small ceremony, just Keith, Veronica, Lilly, Logan, Weevil, Ella, Wallace and Meg. Her parents - all four of them. Dick hadn’t wanted any of his biological family there. Half way through their junior year, his father was charged by the IRS with multiple counts of major fraud and embellishment. All white collar crime, but still a big deal. He’d tried to flee the country, but had been caught on the border. He was currently serving his 20 year sentence on multiple offenses. The bulk of his assets had been seized, but Dick still had access to his trust fund, and the house had been in his mother’s name. She’d sold it and transferred the money to him, not wanting anything to do with her ex husband’s money. Not really wanting anything to do with her son either. He’d never been close to his half brother. The son of wife number two, she’d taken Cassidy in the divorce, leaving big Dick with the money. The only concession she made was agreeing to pay for Cassidy’s education. After the age of five, Dick had never lived in the same city as his half brother. Cassidy had spent most of their childhood in boarding schools. Dick was left with money and very little else. 

 

While Mac worked for Kane software, Dick bought a nightclub. Just a small one, to test his business skills. Then a restaurant. Then another night club. Another two restaurants. A small art gallery. By the time they’ve been out of college for a year, he is the owner of six venues. All of which is highly successful under his careful hand. To his surprise, Dick finds that he actually likes business, that he likes taking places with potential and making them great. He likes bringing in talented people to work in them. Getting good staff. He enjoys the challenge. 

 

“Logan, man, if you ever move back to Neptune, I’m opening a restaurant for you,” he tells his friend the next Christmas. 

 

They’ve been back in Neptune for six months when one of the houses in the gated community with the Kane/Echolls complex goes up for sale. Mac thinks it’s ostentatious, but for Dick it means easy access to the waves, to the garden, and a house that he can see them raising a family in. Mac can’t deny that he house is beautiful, and unlike most of the 09er houses she’s visited, feels like a home. Like somewhere she could live and grow old. Dick uses the money from the sale of his father’s house as the sizable deposit, and talks the price down with the agent until they are left with a mortgage that Mac is comfortable with. 350K is still a huge amount of money to her, but it is better than the millions she could be dealing with in other circumstances. 

 

The day they do final hand over and receive the keys, Dick is like a kid in a candy store. They aren’t moved in, but he has arranged for a single piece of furniture to be in place - their bed. Once they’ve moved, the furniture from their apartment will barely fill a quarter of the house, but it doesn't matter. They have a couch, and a bed. Everything else is extra. It can come later.

 

Dick insists on carrying Mac across the threshold, and up the stairs to their new bedroom. He reverently places her on the bed, slowly starts to undress her. It’s something he’s done a hundred times for her before, and each time it amazes her. 

 

Mac is pretty sure they conceived their first born that night. There was something… different… about that night. It was a deeper connection. More intense and smoldering. Passionate, emotional. Beautiful, profound and perfect. It was the kind of experience that happens very occasionally. Not that every other time they had sex wasn’t wonderful. But this was just something… more.

 

Dick, even early in their relationship had worshipped her. The feeling was mutual, but he was always better at showing it. To start with, Mac had been concerned about her lack of practice, of knowledge. Soon though, it didn’t matter. She loved him, and she loved that he was the only guy she’d been with. She had never felt like she was missing out on anything by making that choice, by following her heart. 

 

Looking in Dick’s eyes, Mac had seen the love and longing in them. Longing for her, for the connection that they had. The earnest, faithful look that she knew was hers, and hers alone. No one else ever saw this look.

 

He’d started to undress her, slowly and deliberately. Starting with her shoes, massaging her feet as he frees each from the confines of the heels she’s taken to wearing to work. Working up her legs, he slowly removes her skirt, lavishing kisses on her skin as he exposes it. Carefully unbuttoning the blouse and placing it on a chair. Every item is neatly folded and added to the pile. He takes in her reclining form, clad in thigh high stockings and garter belt, matching underwear and bra. He loves that she wears this stuff under her formal, proper, business attire. Loves that he is the only one who has ever seen her like this. Except Ronnie, but he doesn’t count her. Veronica took a series of boudoir photos as a wedding present from Mac to him. They are safely packed away at the moment, but if he has his way, they will be adorning the walls of this room. He had thought that she looked sexy in those photos, but fuck, if she wasn’t edible now. 

 

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he could see Mac grinning at him. He could see her desire written over her face, and her amusement at him. 

 

“Welcome back,” she giggled.

 

He continued to undress her, carefully massaging the exposed skin. Flipping her onto her stomach, he undid the hooks that held her bra in place, and eased the straps off her shoulders. He undid the hooks for her garter belt, and eased the stockings down her legs, kissing as he went.

 

Lastly he removed her underwear. Easing it over her hips, he runs his fingers over the soft exposed skin. He loves the look of her like this. The hint of what could happen. The soft skin on display. The dimples in her lower back. The rounding of her breasts just visible as she lays on them. Her head turned to the side, relaxed and happy.

 

He runs his hands up her back, gently finding the kinks and knots she’s holding there. He carefully works them out, his fingers moving deftly over her skin. As he works, he moves gradually lower, until he’s grazing her ass. Still massaging, he moves lower and lower, massaging down one thigh and back up, then down the other. Her legs spread, and the catches a glimpse of her fascinating lips. When they’d started dating, she’d been completely bare. He’d hated it, but didn’t say anything. When they moved to Ithaca, away from her waxing lady, she’d complained about having to find a new person. He’d told her not to bother, and she’d been confused. Eventually, it came out that she’d been waxing because she thought he liked it. She’d overheard some girls talking in the bathroom at school one day about how no one would ever want to go down on you unless you were bare. This was before they’d really met, when she was still invisible. They hadn’t even realised she was in the bathroom. So, when it looked like they might start fooling around, she’d found someone who could do her waxing. He’d never said anything, so she just continued to do it. He’d laughed, and told her no, it kinda freaked him out. All bare like that, looking pre pubescent. And what they were doing was certainly post pubescent. She’d laughed, and stopped waxing. He seemed to enjoy her even more as the hair returned, and she’d never considered removing any of it again. 

 

Running his hands up her legs, he sifts them to her inner things, carefully running his fingers up her slit before continuing his motion over her ass. He saw her intake of breath, and heard the slight mumble of “tease,” her face half buried in the pillow. He continues the massage, working slowly and carefully, occasionally running his hands along her steadily dampening lips. Just often enough that she doesn’t fall asleep, and irregularly enough to tease her. To make her want it more.

 

Eventually, he is satisfied and he carefully flips her over. She’s all jelly and smiles, relaxed from the massage and turned on from his teasing. As she lies on her back, he continues his ministrations. Massaging her legs, occasionally running his hands across her breasts, along her soaking lips. 

 

He sees the lust and love in her eyes. The look she gives him is almost enough to make him come, but he contains himself and his love for her. 

 

Satisfied she’s relaxed and turned on, he starts to undress. He retrieves a condom from his wallet, throwing the packet on the bed as he removes the last items of clothing. Reaching down, he goes to pick up the packet, but Mac stops him.

 

“Leave it off,” she whispers. “Just us, okay?”

 

He nods. There is no way he is gonna argue with Mac on this. They’ve gone bareback in the past, but she was on the pill then. She’d come off it a few months ago, when they started talking about children. But they’d been talking in the future, not like, immediately. She’d mostly come off it to help settle her cycle before they started trying. He missed the direct contact with her, and he wanted this to be as special, as close and intimate as possible. 

 

So, he put down the packet and hovered over his wife. Looking her closely in the eyes, he slowly eased himself into her. He was always amazed how tight and right she felt.

 

Looking at her, he helped her sit up, carefully staying inside her. Sitting like this, she’s lifted slightly, and he can look directly into her eyes. They just sit for a few moments, staring into each other’s eyes. It’s not a position they use very often, but tonight the intimacy and slowness just seem right. Splaying one hand over her lower back to support her, he begins to thrust. She moves in tandem with him, grinding her hips in little circles. He can see a flush moving up her skin, and her eyelids beginning to flicker. There is no space between them, her body pressed firmly against his, and he can feel her grinding against him, seeking release. He leans back, feeling the loss of contact as his sweaty skin is exposed the the cool night air. Missing her already, mere inches away from him.

 

He reaches in between their bodies, carefully massaging her clit with his thumb. He feels Mac’s rhythm falter as he get the spot, the pace and pressure that sends her over the edge. She’s not there yet, but not far off. He uses the hand on her back to guide her movements, and continues to rub his thumb in circles on her clit as she gets closer to her release. 

 

Just before her orgasm hits, she tips herself forward, pulling his shoulder towards her face, kissing the sensitive spot at the base of his neck. As her orgasm hits, she bites down. Her teeth are the push he needs to reach his own orgasm, and he screams her name. 

 

As they both come down from their highs, they sit, staring in to each other’s eyes. He is still buried inside her, and he feels himself getting softer slowly. He doesn’t want to break the contact, the intimacy they are sharing. Instead, he lies down, carefully staying inside her, pulling her to lie on top of him.

 

As she lies there, her head on his chest, she can hear heart. The pace is gradually slowing, and she finds herself counting the beats. The steady beating lulls her to sleep, content and happy. 


	13. Law School - Year 2

Wallace is the next to return, enticed by a job offer at Neptune High to coach basketball. He’d been studying on a basketball scholarship, and one of the conditions for the scholarship, he was expected to coach a junior high basketball team from a local public school. The school was in a rough, underfunded area, and without the assistance of his university, most of the extra curricula activities would be unavailable to their students. He was expected to coach for two seasons, in his sophomore and junior years. He found he enjoyed it, and had requested to coach his senior year as well. The year after he graduated, it just made sense to him to do his graduate diploma in education. His under grad studies meant he was able to teach history and physics, along with phy ed. And of course, coach the team. His status as a Neptune High alumni, as well as the more unusual teaching qualification made him stand out from the usual field of phys ed teachers. It was a no brainer for him to move back to Neptune. He didn’t have any real ties in New York, and was happy to move back to the same town as his mother and younger brother. 

 

A few weeks after Wallace moves back, he gets a call from Meg asking if he needs a housemate. Her father retired the month before, and her parents have moved to Florida. It seems so cliche, but she’s happy they aren’t there. Her childhood wasn’t all fun and games, despite the outward appearance of happy families. Her parents were religious fanatics, instilling their dogma on her and her sisters. Her middle sister Lizzie had rebelled against them, becoming wild and sexually charged. She had left home at eighteen, two months before finishing her senior year at Neptune High. Meg had been away at college, but Lizzie had called her almost daily. She’d stayed with one of her friend’s parents, and after graduation had just left. Meg knew where she was, and got a weekly check in. She was happy and safe, and Meg was happy about that. It was hardest for their youngest sister. Meg was twelve and Lizzie eleven when her parents converted, but Grace had beenseven and didn’t remember a time before the religious fanaticism. Meg had tried to keep in contact, but her sister had retreated into a shell that she rarely came out of. Grace had graduated a year early, and had accepted a place at Berkley. She started to talk to Meg more after that, and Meg was happy to see her sister slowly coming out of her shell, slowly blooming. With no children left in Neptune, their parents had just, left. Found a community down in Florida that was built on religion and relocated. Meg had talked to them once, and knew that they weren’t going to be coming back to Neptune. She finally felt it was safe to move home. She never says anything, but there are scars other than the physical. The emotional scars can be just as dangerous, just as deadly.

 

Wallace and Meg end up living in a house in the 06 zip. It’s comfortable, has a yard, and they can easily cover the rent with his teacher salary and her social work salary. It took Meg the first two years of her degree to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Because it took her so long, she didn’t have all the classes she needed, so she had to add an extra year on to the end. She and Wallace graduated the same year. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to move back, but with her parents out of the state, and her sisters both living in LA, she realises that she wants to be in the same time zone as they are. So, she finds a women’s clinic in Neptune that’s hiring social workers. She’d double majored in Gender Studies and Social Work, and the women’s clinic just fitted with her career goals. 

 

Work with the clinic is hard, perhaps the hardest thing she’s ever done. But they know about the high burn out rates of social workers, and she has access to psychologists if she needs it. Most of what she does is counseling for pregnant women. Talking through their options, keeping the baby, adoption, abortion. Non judgmentally and rationally. Giving them time and space to work out the best option for them. She’s sad when the option is abortion, because she knows the potential health risks. But the health of the mother is always her primary concern. But she also talks to rape victims, domestic violence victims. Families who are just struggling. People who need help with their children’s medical and emotional issues. Women struggling with mental illness. She is exhausted, but loves the job. 

 

Six months after returning to Neptune, Wallace surprises her a dog. A year old chocolate labrador. “Something to get you out of the house, girl,” he says with a shrug. 

 

Meg names the dog Papa Bear, and starts walking with him daily. Short walks to start with, but soon they walk miles along the beach. She finds the time with Bear relaxing and cathartic. Slowly, she begins to recognise the regulars on the beach. The people who walk at the same times as her. The walks morph into runs. Bear loves running, and Meg is surprised to find that she enjoys it, even as she hates the way her feet can never find easy traction on the sand. She learns to run along the water line, where the waves lap at the shore and the sand is that much more solid. 

 

Four months after she starts to run with Bear, she meets Nick. He starts to talk to her one day when she’s pushed herself particularly hard, and she’s standing catching her breath, watching Bear cavort in the waves. 

 

“Gorgeous dog you’ve got there,” he starts.

 

Meg laughs, the sound short as she breathes in. Her pulse is rushing in her ears, and she smiles at the cliched line.

 

“Yep.”

 

She turns to look at him. He’s standing with his feet in the water, and looks like he’s just come from the office. His formal black trousers are rolled up past his knees, and he’s pushed his shirt sleeves above his elbows.

 

“Overdressed?” she asks. Her breathing is slowing down, but she’s still not sure she can get a full sentence out without having to take a breath in the middle.

 

“Yeah, a touch,” he admits. “But I’m new to town, new to the state. Hell, new to living within any distance of an ocean. First day at my new job today, and as a celebration, I thought I would have fish and chips by the beach. Didn’t really think the wardrobe through.”

 

He grins, turning to face her. He sticks his hand out, and for a moment, she just stares at it.

 

“Nick. Nick please-don’t-laugh Saltwater.”

 

Taking his hand, she shakes it once, then lets go. 

 

“Meg Manning,” she says with a grin. “And, seriously?! You’ve never lived by the ocean with that surname?”

 

“Sad but true.”

 

Meg turns back to the waves, calling Bear towards her.

 

“Look, I have to get this one home before it gets full dark. It was lovely meeting you.”

 

“You too…” Bear reaches them, and Meg leans down, patting the soggy dog.

 

“Look, I know this is really forward…” he starts, watching them, “but, would you like to have dinner some time?”

 

“A few of my friends will be going out for drinks at the 09er on Friday night, about 10pm. Join us then. I’ll put your name on the list.”

 

Standing up, she begins to jog back along the sand. 

 

When she gets home, she calls Dick, asking him to put Nicks’ name on the list for Friday night. 

 

Come Friday, Meg is feeling jittery and apprehensive. She hasn’t felt like this in a very long time. In high school, she’d dated a few guys, but they were just place holders. Helpful to maintain the image that kept her parents off her back, but not ever really because she had any affection for them. They were all from her parent’s church, and most of them were fairly firm believers. Meg believed in God, but not the teachings of her parent’s church. In college, she hadn’t dated anyone because she on longer felt obligated to keep up the ‘typical teen’ act she’d put on for her parents. Then she figured out what she wanted to do, and she found that she was happy to spend her time with her small group of friends, or studying. She wasn’t missing anything from her life. Occasionally, someone would ask her out, and she’d go on a date or two. She hadn’t felt a spark with any of them, so none of them had lasted past the second date. 

 

After her meeting with Nick, she felt… well, she felt. Nerves and apprehension, and just… possibility.

 

She’d kicked Wallace out, and persuaded Mac to come and help her get ready. Meg and Mac had become closer since they’d both moved back, but girl talk still wasn’t an easy topic for Mac. She was close to six months pregnant, and starting to feel it. So, she was happy to have this evening with her friend. She knew it would be one of the last childless evenings she had. Mac was sad that Veronica and Lilly weren’t going to be there to share in the girl time, but had accepted a long time ago that it was going to take a lot for the three of them to come back to Neptune permanently. It might be home for her, but it held so many negative emotions for them, she was always shocked that they came home at all.

 

Shaking her head to clear it, she turned her focus back to Meg. She knew that Meg had a limited dating history, and hoped that wasn’t going to come back and bite her in the ass. Not that she was any better, she thought, _I married the only guy I’ve ever dated._

 

They meet Dick and Wallace at the 09er a bit before 10, and Mac can see how anxious Meg is. She can’t decide what will be worse - if Nick shows, or if he doesn’t.

 

Thankfully, a few minutes after 10, Nick walks into the club. Mac can tell it’s him from the careful way he’s scanning the crowd. She nudges Meg, nodding at the door. “That him?” she asks, smiling as she sees the look of relief cross Meg’s face.

 

“Yep,” Meg confirms, waving Nick over.

 

Introductions are made, and Dick gets everyone a drink. He waves away Nick’s offer to pay, informing him the drinks are on the house. As Dick walks away, Mac conspiratorially leans across and mock whispers to Nick “I might have an in with the owner. Dick Casablancas, heard of him? Knocked up his wife recently, if the rumors are to be believed.” She sees Nick’s eyes widen as he makes the connection, and he chuckles at her joke. With that, the ice has been broken, and Nick begins to open up.

 

A little after midnight, Nick makes his excuses, and breakfast plans with Meg. The rest of them stay an hour or so later before making their way back home.

 

“He seems nice,” Mac comments to Dick as she drives. Dick is sitting happily in the passenger seat, starring out the window, watching the bubbles of light fade in and as the pass each street light.

 

“Yeah. She’s a nice girl, she deserves someone nice. We should have Ronnie do a background check on him.”

 

Mac chuckles. “You know I can do that, right?”

 

“Yeah, but, you’re meant to be cutting back at work babe. Not stressing yourself out, not overexerting yourself or the baby.”

 

“I know, hun, but a background check is easy. And I’m not an invalid, just pregnant, Dick.”

 

“Yeah, but you’re my Mackie. You’re my family, and that kid, is our future. Our family… Just… you’re being careful aren’t you?”

 

Dick sounds so wistful, so scared that Mac reaches across, holds his hand. “Of course. I love you. Always and forever.”

 

“F’rever…” Dick mumbles as he slides into the land of drunken sleep. 

 

Pulling into their driveway, Mac just smiles dotingly at her husband. He had been so excited about the baby, and so scared about being a father. She understood his fears, his home life hadn’t really been the easiest, he didn't really ever have a role model in his father or mother. She didn’t have any concerns about her husband though. Just a need to get him inside the house. It was hard enough when she wasn’t pregnant, he was just so much taller than she was. With her pregnant belly, her centre of gravity was so different there was no way she could man handle him into the house. Carefully waking him, she helped guide him to bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but she stayed awake a while later, watching her blond surfer husband sleep in the pale moonlight that was trickling in their balcony window.

 

“Always and forever, love,” she whispered before she settled into his embrace and fell asleep herself. 

 

Meg and Nick had a whirlwind romance. When he met her at the diner for breakfast the next morning, he had expected to spend a few hours with her. Instead, they parted ways 48 hours later when they each had to go to work. He met her at the beach, and they went running. Then to dinner. And it repeated every day. They spent all the time they weren’t at work with each other. 

 

Mac did run a background check on Nick, and found she liked what she read about him. There were no flags, nothing to be concerned about. He’d graduated towards the top of his class from University of Illinois. He’d been working in finance since, and had moved to Neptune as the senior accountant to a private management firm. He had an older and a younger brother, and no criminal record. She shared this with Dick, and told him that he was never to repeat it to anyone, or his surfboard might have a nasty accident. Dick simply agreed, eyes wide at the thought of doing anything to make Mac sufficiently unhappy that his surfboards were fair game. 

 

Meg was worried, at first, that he would find it odd that she was a virgin at 23. Until he explained that he was a virgin at 25. And that it wouldn’t matter if she’d slept with hundreds of people. Virginity wasn’t about losing anything. He’d just never met the right person. He hadn’t abstained for any other reason. They decided that they would wait until marriage.

 

Meg and Nick got married four months later. She didn’t invite her parents. Her sisters were bridesmaids, and Nick’s brothers were his groomsmen. They walked each other down the aisle. The ceremony was intimate and perfect. 

 

The month before the wedding, Dick had rung Logan with some news. Another one of the houses in the estate had come up for sale. He wanted to buy it for Meg and Nick. Mac was on board, but between them they didn’t have the full amount. Logan hadn’t even let Dick finish before agreeing that they would buy the house. 

 

Meg had protested, saying the gift was too big, to much, that they couldn’t afford it. Her protests had been ignored. Dick’s financial advisor had looked at Meg and Nick’s finances, and between them they were able to afford the upkeep costs. Without the cost of buying the house, the mortgage that most people their age were saddled with, they were still going to be comfortable.


	14. Law School - Year Three

Wallace is sad to see Meg move out. She’d made a good housemate, and it was nice living with a friend again. But he’s glad she’s happy. Glad that she has found a good guy in Nick. 

 

He knows he can’t keep the house by himself, and so looks for a new room mate. Mac suggests one of her new hires. Estella is a year younger than them, and has recently moved from Spain. Mac had discovered someone trying to get in the back doors of Kane software. The girl was good, and it had taken Mac almost a month to trace the hack back to the source. It had kept her mind busy while she was away from the office in the last month of her pregnancy. A week after she’d given birth to her daughter, Charlotte, she’d flown to Spain to offer Estella a job in person. Unsurprisingly, Estella had accepted. 

 

Mac had spent the last month of her pregnancy torn between wanting to stay at home with her child for the first year, and wanting to be at work. She’d been bored the last month, even with the challenge of finding Estella. She couldn’t imagine not using her mind. Not doing the job Lilly had hired her to do. Not steering the company from her seat on the board. Dick wanted Mac to be able to relax, to learn how to be a mother. But he also wanted her to be happy, and knew how fulfilled her job made her. In the end, they’d reached a compromise. Mac would do half days at work, with the baby. The first board meeting after Charlotte was born, Mac was in attendance, Charlotte strapped to her chest in a sling. She’d slept through the meeting, setting up the tone for her childhood. Mac would work, Charlotte would be there with her. No one questioned it, and the practice slowly filtered through the company. There were already day care centres, but they expanded, and the options for employees - men and women - for childcare, mixed care, work from home and children at work expanded. 

 

Estella wasn’t the first person Mac had hired because they were trying to hack Kane software. As a mostly reformed hacker herself, she figured it was better having their minds in the company than out of it. Their skills were valued in the office, for their ability to think laterally and make leaps in judgement and creativity that continued to increase the security of Kane software products. Mac had even created a rotating team who were given the task of hacking Kane systems. When a weakness was found, it was up to them to fix it. She knew it was an unusual business move, to employ people to hack the system, but it worked. They were the most secure company in the country. Word was slowly filtering through the community, and Kane software was beginning to rival Google as one of the most sought after jobs in the industry. For many hackers, trying to get in was better than a job interview. Mac knew this, and kept an eye on the attempts. She also publicly discouraged the practice, knowing privately that it wouldn’t curb the overly enthusiastic, or the ones who were just doing it for fun. Everyone who was offered a job went through rigorous background checks. Mac didn’t care about skeletons in the closet, only skeletons that could bite Kane Software’s ass. 

 

Which means that she knows just about everything there is to know about Estella, and is happy to recommend the girl to Wallace as a room mate. Wallace had been happy to have someone find a housemate, not having to go through the vetting process himself. If Mac trusted Estella, then so did he. It didn’t hurt that Estella had the cutest accent, and was gorgeous. Wallace became her unofficial USA tour guide. 

 

Mac and Dick and put bets on how long it would take Wallace and Estella to get together. Mac was firmly at two months, two weeks, while Dick, ever the romantic, thought they’d last just over a month. Mac accidentally lets the bet slip when they are having dinner with Meg and Nick. 

 

“Forty-nine days,” Meg declares, smiling at Nick shaking his head at his wife and friends. 

 

When Dick walks in on Wallace and Estella making out in one of the bathroom corridors at the 09er, forty eight days later, Meg wins the bet. 

 

***********

 

To their complete shock, Logan and Lilly’s first child is born at the end of Veronica’s second year of Law school. Not that they were shocked by a baby - they knew about the pregnancy - they were just shocked to fall pregnant. With a few notable exceptions, they wore a condom, and both girls had a Mirena. They’d all talked kids, and had agreed that they would wait until Veronica had finished Law School. So getting pregnant was… not in their plan.but a welcomed surprise.

 

Logan is surprised by the intense love he feels for the tiny bundle that is his daughter. 

 

Finally admitting that they never used their individual spaces, they converted one into the baby’s room. They’d decided to wait to find out the sex, and had painted the room a bright yellow. Lilly had spent the last three months of her pregnancy covering the walls with abstract designs, flowers and mandalas and paisley. 

 

Keith is thrilled when he hears he’s going to be a grandfather, and spends the first month of Hailey’s life in New York with them. 

 

Both Logan and Lilly take six months of parental leave, and love the family unit they are building. The three of them decide that they aren’t hiring nannies or au pairs or anyone else to raise their children. There are three of them. They can do it together. 


	15. Dissolve

__

_Have you ever watched an old film on a reel? When the reel gets too hot and the film starts to burn? And the image just sort of… distorts into blackness?_

 

_That’s what it’s like._

 

_Every time._

 

_The dissolve._

 

_I’ve never had a better name for it. But it seems fitting. The images fade, and dissolve, and I’m left floating in this blackness. Drowning in black. Fighting for my breath, for a way out._

 

_Fighting to find the surface._

 

_But the surface isn’t up and it isn’t down. There isn’t a direction I can swim in. The surface is everywhere and nowhere and I have to fight my own instincts. I have to float through the black, and know that I’ve always found the surface before. That I’ve never drowned in the dissolve._


	16. Waking Up

_My eyelids feel sticky, like they’ve been glued together. Everything feels stiff, and my side_ hurts _. Slowly, I open my eyes and immediately regret it. It’s too right, and even though I know it’s probably fairly dark where I am, the light hurts._

 

_I can feel myself groaning with the pain and stiffness, and hear a movement behind me._

 

_“Welcome back,” the rich male voice says. “You were gone awhile this time.”_

 

_I try to form words, but my throat feels like sandpaper, and my mouth is dry and tacky. My eyes have finally adjusted to the light, and I take in my surroundings. They’re familiar, but like I’ve been away for years - I can’t quite remember them, but feel at home._

 

_The rich voice has moved from behind me, and is helping me sit up. Like the room, he’s familiar but I can’t place him. He’s handing me a glass of water, helping me raise it to my lips. I’m glad for the help. I can feel my arms shaking as I try to hold the glass, and I know I’d drop it if he wasn’t there. I wonder how he knows. I drink deeply, relishing the soothing feeling of the cool liquid on my throat._

 

_“Do you have anything else you remember?” he asks, and I know what he means._

 

_With the water finished, I find that I can finally form words._

 

_Swallowing I hesitantly start speaking._

 

_“Ella and Eli move across when his aubela gets sick. Veronica takes the bar, passes first go. Works for a large firm in New York. She’s hired straight out of school as a Junior Partner by the firm she did an internship with. Logan, Lilly and Veronica were the last to move back. Veronica had just fallen pregnant with her first child. Lilly already had two running around, but Veronica had wanted to finish Law School, and get a job and experience first. Logan and Lilly have three kids, Logan and Veronica four. Mac and Dick have three. Eli and Ella have five. Wallace and Estrella have two, and Meg and Nick have three.”_

 

_I feel exhausted as I finish the sentence. The guy in front of me - Haris - nods understandingly. I don’t understand, but somehow he does._

 

_“No wonder you were out for so long. That’s the most complete life you’ve experienced. You were out for nearly 48 hours this time. The longest by over a day.” He gestures behind him, and I see a complex set of computers and other technology I don’t recognise. “How’s your side?”_

 

_My side throbs in pain, as if the simple act of mentioning it made it hurt._

_I hand the glass back to him, and slowly reach to pull up my shirt. As I reveal the bare flesh, I’m amazed to see the intricate tree tattoo I saw on Veronica’s skin._

 

_I’m confused, unsure how it came to be on my skin._

 

_“It’s a big one. Must be why you were out for so long. It took a long time to form.”_

 

_I run my fingers over the marking, marveling at how the colours stand out against my alabaster flesh. My brain is slowly waking up, remembering who I am. Where I am. What I am._

 

_My name is Aisling. The dreamer. I wonder if my parents knew how prophetic the name was when I was born, or if they just wanted to piggy back off their forgotten Irish heritage. Either way, it fits. I dream, and I get tattoos. This isn’t the first. It’s… I think back, trying to remember how many times I’ve woken up with a tattoo and memories of someone else’s life. I think this is the ninth time._

 

_Nine dreams, nine tattoos._

 

_Not that I remember my dreams the rest of my life. Haris says I dream in my regular sleep. He sees my eyes moving, and I’ve kicked him a few times. But I never remember those ones._

 

_The tattoo dreams, they’re different. I don’t know how they work. I just know that I experience someone’s life for a while. At some point as I dream about them, they get a tattoo. So I get a tattoo. Then I wake up, with a new tattoo to care for and a new memory. While I dream, Haris protects me (another fortunate name choice by his parents). He records my dreams, somehow. I still don’t understand the technology behind it.Together, we catalogue the lives of these people._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! This probably isn't the resolution you were looking for. I'm sorry. But it is the ending I've always planned. Have you ever woken up in the middle of a dream and just wished that you could finish it, to find out what happens? Wanting to know more? Sitting on the edge of sleep, but staying just outside of it. The Three of them was inspired by that feeling, on a rare day off. It was always destined to be 'broken' by the act of waking.
> 
> However, Veronica has always been noisy. Now is no different.
> 
> This story continues in two places: 
> 
> 1) The Dreamer, Aisling and Haris' story continues in Part 2 of this series. It will cross multiple fandoms, some briefly and some in more depth. The three of them is the most complete story of the Dreamer series.
> 
> 2) The three of them, LoVeLi's story continues in Part 3 of this series. 
> 
> Both of these works are nearing completion, but require some serious editing before I put them up. I will be posting extra chapters as I edit them. I cannot give you a timeline, but both stories will get resolutions.


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